


Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Rewind

by TheSwagJuice



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Alternate Ending, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, F/M, Gen, He/Him Pronouns for Fujisaki Chihiro, M/M, What-If
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:40:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 26,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28078596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSwagJuice/pseuds/TheSwagJuice
Summary: What if the first Dangan Ronpa game went differently than it did? If one thing was changed, would it change the course of the first game?Yes, it would, and here we're gonna explore that idea.Currently on: Chapter 1 Investigation
Relationships: Maizono Sayaka & Naegi Makoto
Comments: 66
Kudos: 50





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read end notes!

Today is my first day of high school. I know this isn’t anything crazy but I’m actually really nervous. See, this school isn’t just any ordinary high school, it’s a school only for extraordinary kids. But I’m nothing special. Every year this school selects one kid by lottery to join the ranks of those who are the best at what they do, otherwise known as “ultimates.” 

This year, that kid is me. 

My name is Makoto Naegi, and this year I will be attending Hope’s Peak Academy as the Ultimate Lucky Student of class 78. 

I’m not supposed to know who my classmates will be, but there are hundreds of online threads circulating around online that speculate who the prestigious sixteen will be each year. Being the only one who doesn’t any talent to go along with their enrollment, I almost felt as if I had to inform myself of who I’ll be learning with in order to prepare myself. 

Otherwise, who knows if I’ll be able to handle the change in environment. My entire life I’ve been surrounded by kids just like me, average kids. At least for the most part. But starting today I could be in the same room as a gang leader, a famous pop star, and even a kid who’s playing in professional baseball leagues at age fourteen. 

I don’t know if I’m ready. But I don’t think I’ll ever be fully prepared to start my new life.

“Makoto? We’re here.” I snapped out of my daydream as I felt a tug on the sleeve of my jacket.

“Oh, you’re right,” I said as we stopped. The two of us stood in front of the school gates as if there was an invisible barrier keeping us from taking the next step. 

“Well, I’m not allowed past this point. You gonna be okay?” She asked me in a concerned tone. She always did look after me. Well, we looked after each other. 

“Yeah Komaru, I’ll be fine.” I smiled back at her. “Well, I guess this is it.” 

“Mmm”

“See you after school?” 

“Definitely.” 

I stayed at the front gates until Komaru was out of my vision. A few moments after that I turned back. Being alone with my thoughts really solidified the fact that I’d never be more ready than I was right now. 

“Alright. You got this.” 

I took a step into the school grounds. 

The ground didn’t catch my foot. 

As soon as I took a step past the gate it was as if the world disappeared around me. The concrete that surrounded the school turned into a void that I started to fall into. I turned back around and the sun that once shined behind me was gone. I kept falling.

And falling.

And fall

And

A

a

…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ANYWAYS I appreciate any comments and if u have any questions feel free to leave them in the comment area and I'll answer them! I love Kpop, videogames, and food. Also, I exercise so that's a rare trait.


	2. Chapter 1: Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Makoto wakes up in a strange classroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a lot of fun to write. Hope everyone else likes it too!
> 
> read end notes!

“Hey, are you awake?” 

I stirred a little bit

“Well, he’s not dead.”

“That’s good.” 

“Is it?” 

I groaned. At this point, I was fully conscious but for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to lift my body up. It felt as if I was sitting down at a desk. My face was currently buried in my arms and the blunt edge of the desk was jabbing into my chest. Which, was painful. 

“I can’t believe this kid fell asleep in class.” One of the voices said. Each word carried a weight that left an impact on Makoto’s side. 

“Had every kid in the country apply for that spot and some truant who can’t stay awake on the first day got it.” Mu classmate’s words felt like anchors that held medown at the bottom of the sea. I desperately wanted to get up and prove that I deserved my spot, but an unnatural force was keeping me glued to the desk. 

I tried to fight it. I harnessed every bit of energy in my body to try and make myself get up, and I could feel it starting to work. My chest started to rise off of the desk and I was finally able to remove my head from my arms. But once I opened his eyes, I woke up.

Makoto woke up in another classroom, but this time he was alone. 

“I- Who’s there?” he said. A pause. “Oh. Just another dream.” Makoto sighed and checked his surroundings. Immediately he knew something was wrong.

“What’s going on?” He got out of his seat and rushed to the windows that weren’t actually windows. He grabbed the area on the wall where the window was supposed to be, but all he felt was cold metal instead. “What is this?” He asked nobody. He considered trying to remove the slabs covering the windows but inspecting the bolts and screws holding the covers in place convinced him that there was no point.

Makoto turned around to face the classroom he woke up in, deciding to investigate his new surroundings. The first thing he noticed was the large camera hanging from the ceiling. That didn’t make sense. Forums online had described basically the entire layout of the school, cameras were never a part of that. Maybe they’re upping security? That makes sense. What doesn’t make sense, however, was Makoto being inside the classroom. 

How did he get in here? The last thing he remembered was stepping into Hope’s Peak but everything after that is a blur. 

Makoto walked back to where he woke up and picked up a small piece of paper that was on the desk he woke up on. “How did I not notice this?” He unfolded it and read the words written on it aloud. The writing on the note was clean and precise. It read, “Meet inside of the Main Hall to begin your first semester.” 

“Huh,” Makoto said, “Was this planned?” Suddenly he thought maybe this was just some elaborate setup by the officials of this school. That sort of made sense. This was a school that was unlike any other so it made sense that the opening ceremony would be… grand. Right? He tried to convince himself that that made sense. So following these ominous instructions made sense too right?

Right. 

Makoto exited the classroom and was greeted with a strange hallway. The lighting was strangely pigmented, the black and white checkered floor turning pink from the lights and then becoming green when he turned the corner. He felt himself almost get lost walking around the school. There were stairwells that were covered by iron gates and doors that were plastered with yellow caution tape that felt overwhelming. 

Despite feeling scared, Makoto continued to search for the main hall and discovered a single door that was wide open. He naturally gravitated towards the open door, and when he walked in he saw. 

Other kids. That felt nice to see. 

“Hey! Another new student!” A laidback older looking student said as he brushed his hand through his hair. 

“He’s pretty short, but he’s got a cute face.” A taller girl wearing high heels responded as she nudged someone next to her. “Right, sis?” 

“Junko! Stop it.” The dark-haired girl responded as she looked to the floor. She didn’t seem so bad Makoto thought. 

A slender boy with glasses then spoke up. “You’re pretty late. The rest of us have been here for at least fifteen minutes.” His words were blunt but they didn’t seem insulting, rather just observational. Still, Makoto didn’t think that this guy would be too approachable. 

“Sorry about that, I guess I overslept. I woke up in a classroom and I spent a lot of time inspecting the windows, they’re all completely blocked up.” Makoto said. 

“So you’re the same as the rest of us.” An extremely muscular woman observed. “Everyone here also woke up in a random room. Did you find a piece of paper telling you to meet here?” She asked Makoto, staring at him as she waited for a response.  
“Yeah, I did actually. So the same thing happened to everyone here?” Makoto felt relieved. If someone bad was happening, at least there were other people going through the same thing. 

The group all agreed. They were all in the same boat. 

“Well, we’ve all met each other. So maybe we could take turns introducing ourselves to you?” A boy even smaller than Makoto proposed. 

“Yeah, sounds good. You should introduce yourself to all of us at once though so you don’t have to do it each time.” A muscular boy with a long jacket said. 

“Excellent idea Oowada!” A loud boy with spiky hair responded. “Every second saved will give us more time in class once the opening ceremony is done!” 

Suddenly everyone was staring at Makoto. Their eyes were diving into his soul and he couldn’t help but get clammy as his throat closed up. 

“Well? We’re waiting.” A girl with an accent and a big skirt said. 

“Hey give him some space guys! He’s probably nervous because you all have your serial killer eyes zoned in on him.” A girl with a red jacket and brown hair spoke up. “Bro, you don’t have to do the public introduction if ya don’t wanna.” She smiled at him, and he felt his nerves calm down. 

“Um, I’m good now. Thank you.” He said as he smiled at the brown-haired girl. She shot back with a smile and a friendly wink. “Okay. Hi. My name is Makoto Naegi, I’m the Ultimate Lucky Student. I look forward to spending the year with all of you.” He finished and let his shoulders drop, finally letting them un-tense. 

“Well, I think that introduction was about as good as any other.” A red-haired boy spoke up a few seconds after Makoto finished. “How about we move onto one-on-ones?” He proposed. 

The rest of the group agreed and they sort of naturally separated into groups. The other fifteen students stood around in groups or two or three. Except for one girl, who walked straight up to Makoto as he the redhead boy stopped talking. 

“Naegi? Is that you?” The blue-haired girl asked with a smile as she approached. 

“Maizono! Yeah, it’s me. I’m surprised you-” Makoto was cut off as the girl shoved herself into his arms. He sputtered and stumbled backward against her impact as he attempted to regain his footing. The two of them stood there for a few more seconds. Makoto was trying to decide whether or not to put his arms around Maizono, but he didn’t get to make a decision as she stepped back with her head down, a blush forming on her cheeks. 

“Sorry about that, it’s just so nice to see a familiar face here. The whole vibe of this place is just a little off don’t you think?” Maizono messed around with her hands as she finished her sentence. 

“Definitely,” Makoto responded. “I’m actually surprised you remember me. We never really talked so I didn’t think you noticed me. I uh... I definitely remember you though. I’m assuming your talent is something music-related, yeah?” 

Makoto wasn’t surprised to see Maizono there. The two of them went to the same middle school and by the time they graduated she had already become famous within the entertainment industry. Her girl group had become internationally famous with Maizono being the fan-favorite as her powerful vocals achieved her the spot as the “center” of her group. Needless to say, she was immensely popular in school as well, which made it almost touching that she knew who he was. He was never part of the popular groups. 

“Just because you weren’t part of the popular groups doesn’t mean you aren’t special Naegi,” Maizono said. Makoto was taken aback. Did he just say that embarrassing monologue out loud? “You didn’t say it out loud,” Maizono said as she chuckled, “I’m actually a psychic. That’s why I’m here.” Makoto was speechless. This girl was acknowledged worldwide for her talent in music but she was brought to Hope’s Peak for being psychic?

“Wow, I uh… wasn’t expecting that. That’s crazy” He responded. 

“Oh my gosh, you are so silly,” Maizono said as she started laughing, “Of course I’m here for music. I just have a really good intuition.” She said as she winked. Makoto’s cheeks flushed. “My official title is Sayaka Maizono, Ultimate Pop Sensation. Usually, I just like to be called the Ultimate Idol though.

“Ohhh okay,” Makoto scratched the back of his head and laughed. “You’re so convincing I can’t believe I believed you!” The two of them smiled at each other as they shared another laugh. “That makes so much more sense though. Like, there’s no way Psychics are actually real, right?” 

“Hey bro I heard that, lemme educate you for a quick second, alright?” The older guy from earlier said as he approached them. “The names Yasuhiro Hagakure, Ultimate Clairvoyant, which is basically the same thing as a psychic, yeah?” The main thing Makoto wanted to know was how old this guy is. 

“Now I know what you’re thinking. ‘How can it be proven that my powers a real?’ Well, the short answer is that it can’t. But if you ever want me to predict your future with thirty percent accuracy come talk to me. Anyway, that’s it from me. Peace out bro!”

Just like that, he was gone.

Makoto turned back to Maizono who had a grin on her face. “Hagakure can be a bit much, but he seems like a good guy dontcha think?” She asked as Makoto let out a gust of air.

“I guess so yeah. Anyways who should we meet next?” 

Maizono quietly giggled, “Well do you want to meet someone more normal or one of the louder characters in the bunch?” She asked him as the two of them smiled at each other. 

“Might as well meet the big personalities now I guess.” He responded. Apparently, Maizono would be guiding him through introductions with his classmates and Makoto was definitely not gonna complain about that. Meeting Hagakure was already a lot so Maizono would make the rest of his greetings a lot less overwhelming. 

Hm.

Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok my fingers are starting to feel it so I'm ending it here for now. Thanks for reading!
> 
> I'd love to hear ideas, predictions, wishes, and anything else you guys have to add concerning the death order! I have a couple of placements set in stone but almost everything else I just have rough ideas on what I want. If I don't get any persuasive ideas I have a rough draft death order I will be using but by all means, try to change my mind! please.


	3. Chapter 1: Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Makoto meets Junko, Mukuro, Mondo, Ishimaru, Yamada, Fujisaki, and Celeste.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> read end notes

Maizono grabbed my arm and basically dragged me up to a group of my classmates, one of whom I already knew the name of. Junko Enoshima. If you lived in Japan it was impossible to be a student and not know that name. Enoshima was the pinnacle of natural beauty. Not only did she dominate the fashion industry as a model, but she was also a mainstream sensation as well. Acting as the face for multiple companies worldwide through commercials and social media, Junko had gained millions of followers and fans. People would fly all around the world following her from event to event just to catch a glimpse of the beauty in person, and to put it lightly, the girl clearly did not need photoshop to look good. 

“Um… hello? Are you gonna be one of the weird guys that only stare or are you gonna say hi?” Without realizing it, Makoto had become starstruck at the sight of Junko. Staring at her for a good fifteen seconds until Junko pushed Makoto’s forehead with her nail. 

“Wh- I- Um. Sorry! Hi, I’m Makoto Naegi. Pleased to meet you. Sorry for I just didn’t know what to say.” He said after regaining his footing and staring up directly at Junko’s forehead.  
Junko chuckled “Don’t worry about it, most of the guys I call out for staring run away within seconds. So you got some guts.” She said as she took a step closer to Naegi. Makoto had to tilt his head even higher in order to keep his eyes on an acceptable spot. “Anyways guess I should introduce myself, eh? The name’s Junko Enoshima, Ultimate Fashionista.” Junko held out a hand as she finished her intro which Makoto hesitantly took. 

“Pleased to meet you Enoshima,” Makoto said and the two of them shared a grin.

“Y’know. You have a pretty face. Let me know if you have any interest in modeling. I could set you up with some makeup people and turn you into a marketable drag queen. You got that soft feminine jawline that most guys spend thousands of dollars in surgery for.” She said in an observational tone. Makoto could tell that this girl is smarter than the stereotypes would say she is. 

“Wow. I didn’t know there was such a science behind facial features in modeling.” Makoto said with a blush. He scratched the back of his head with an open-mouthed smile. 

“Oh totally. When I’m not working on my own beauty I’m studying other models and what makes them the best of the best.” Junko replied, “I got lucky though, I’ve honestly never had to change any of my features. I’m just blessed or something I guess.” She flashed a genuine smile full of perfect teeth. “Enough about me though. You should meet my sister!”

Makoto was surprised, the internet had made every detail of Junko’s life available to the public, but Makoto had never heard of her having a sister. Junko grabbed the same girl she was with earlier. The black-haired girl that Makoto thought looked nice. 

Junko walked back to the group she was in, leaving the two awkward teens face to face, unsure of how to talk to each other. Luckily, Maizono, who was hanging in the background, happened to be good at starting the conversation and decided to help the two of them out. 

“Makoto this is Ikusaba. Though most people don’t know who she is, she and Junko are actually foster siblings. Which explains the different last names.” Mukuro had about no reaction to that. Which made Makoto stir uncomfortably in place. The exchange between the two was becoming nothing short of tragic. Luckily, Maizono was determined to make the two talk at least a little bit. “So Ikusaba I think this is when you introduce yourself, yeah?” She put her hand on Mukuro’s shoulder, to which the timid girl turned her head towards Maizono in response, making eye contact with the idol for a few seconds. 

“Okay. I’m Mukuro Ikusaba. Ultimate Soldier.” The girl said, very matter-of-fact. 

“Oh! Well, it’s nice to meet you Ikusaba. So uh, how did you gain your ultimate title?” Makoto asked, slightly intimidated. 

“I don’t want to get into it. Maybe another day.” The girl responded, “I’m going to leave now.” Without another word, Mukuro walked back to her sister who promptly put her hand on Mukuro’s head and ruffled her hair. “Junko, oh my gosh stop!” Mukuro said as she scurried a few feet away, a smile on the timid girl’s face. 

Makoto and Maizono had the privilege of seeing this sight and promptly turned to each other. Maizono spoke up first, “I know Mukuro seems a little bit standoffish, but I can tell she has a more playful side.” Makoto agreed with her. Though it seemed only Junko could bring this part of Mukuro out. “Anyways, got anyone in mind that you want to meet next?” Maizono asked. Makoto had met four out of his fifteen classmates at this point. 

Surprisingly, Makoto actually did have someone he wanted to meet. “What about those two arguing? We might want to step in before it escalates.” Makoto gestured with his head towards two of the taller boys in the class. 

“Oh, you mean Oowada and Ishimaru? Hmm... No, they’re not arguing. Those two are just loud. They’re actually pretty fun to talk to though. If nothing else, as a pair they are very entertaining.” Once again Maizono grabbed Makoto, and pulled him towards the next duo. “Hi Oowada, Hi Ishimaru! Naegi wanted to introduce himself to you two.” As the duo approached the boys the two of them turned so that the four of them formed a square. 

The taller of the two boys spoke up first. “What’s up kid? The name's Mondo Oowada. Ultimate Biker Gang Leader. This here’s Kiyotaka Ishimaru, Ultimate Moral Compass, which, I must say is a pretty fuckin’ lame title yeah?” Mondo slapped Kiyotaka’s back which made an audible thump sound. 

“First of all Oowada I can introduce myself, and second of all, I don’t appreciate you diminishing the significance of my status as an ultimate! I have worked-”

“Wait. Ishimaru… as in Prime Minister Ishimaru? Are the two of you related?” Makoto asked, to which the spiky-haired boy went silent. A look of shame spreading across his face.

After a moment Mondo spoke up, “Not cool dude, man’s spent his entire life trying to purge his family name of his grandpa’s scandals and you bring it up immediately?” Mondo sighed and put his hand on Kiyotaka’s shoulder. “I doubt Naegi meant anything bad by asking that, man. Uh, you alright?” He asked him with a side smile. 

“Thank you Oowada… I’m alright now. Thank you.” Kiyotaka said. “Naegi… yes. Prime Minister Ishimaru is my grandfather. But I would request that you don’t actively associate me with any thoughts that you might have of that man. I want to be seen as a model citizen, nothing less. With that out the way… My name is Kiyotaka Ishimaru, Ultimate Moral Compass. I look forward to being your classmate and working towards excellence by your side” Makoto instantly felt guilty for not thinking before he asked that question. Ishimaru seemed to be a really hard worker, and Makoto could really respect that. And Oowada. Well, Oowada seemed to be the definition of a “bro”. But that’s not a bad thing. 

Maizono spoke up, “Well it was nice seeing you two again. We’re gonna go meet the rest of the students now.” 

“Sounds good Maizono. We’ll be over here.” Mondo shot back as the two boys resumed whatever conversation they were having before. 

“Sorry Makoto, I should’ve mentioned that Ishimaru’s grandfather is a touchy subject,” Maizono said, her head bowed down remorsefully. 

“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure we’ll be able to get past it. Those two seem like they have forgiving hearts, yeah?” Makoto responded, trying to cheer up Maizono who was definitely feeling embarrassed. 

“Yeah… totally! You’re right.” Maizono said, her smile returning to her face. “Oh! I know who we should say hi to next. I think you’ll like them.” Maizono said as she waved to someone across the hall. “Fujisaki! Celeste! Yamada!” Maizono waved the three of them over and two of them got up, but the third said something and they both sat back down. That girl that seemed to be the leader then gestured with her hand for Makoto and Maizono to come to them instead. Maizono giggled and the two of them approached the group of three. 

“Ah, Makoto Naegi, is it?” The girl with large drill-like hair said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Celestia Ludenberg, Ultimate Gambler, but you may simply call me Celeste.” Celeste offered Makoto her hand and as Makoto accepted it became obvious that she was not expecting a handshake. Unsure of what to do yet feeling submissive against the girl’s energy, Makoto bowed down and touched his forehead to the backside of her hand, to which Celeste did nothing but release Makoto’s hand in response. 

“A gambler. Wow that’s-” 

“A tut-tut-tut, before we engage in chit-chat it would be rude to not get to know my two friends here, no?” Celeste said, interrupting Makoto. “Fujisaki, I’m sure Naegi is dying to know you.”  
“Ah, of course.” The small boy said. This kid had short dirty blonde hair and was wearing matching green pants and shirt. His most notable trait was that he seemed to be the shortest member of the class. “Hi, I’m Chihiro Fujisaki, Ultimate Programmer. I hope we can get along.” A blush appeared on the boy's cheeks as he put his face in his hands for a moment. “Ah, I’m sorry for being awkward. I just get a little embarrassed during introductions.” From the boy's tone Makoto could tell he meant every word he said. Makoto wanted to make sure he didn’t say anything to hurt Chihiro’s feelings.

“No worries!” Makoto said maybe a little too enthusiastically. “I think we’re all a little awkward. This whole situation is a little weird, right?” 

“Yes! I’m honestly sorta freaking out y'know?” The boy responded, eager to have someone to share

“Fujisaki, be patient, please. Yamada hasn’t gotten to say a word yet.” Celeste interrupted the conversation once again. “We can all talk once we know each other’s names.” 

“Oh, sorry Celeste.” Fujisaki blushed again, but more intensely this time. Makoto felt bad for Fujisaki, he could tell that the boy was embarrassed, but he didn’t want to say anything at the risk of making things worse. 

The larger boy then spoke, “Thank you, Ms. Celeste.” Yamada said, “Hello Makoto, I am Hifumi Yamada, but you may call me ‘The Alpha and the Omega.’ I specialize in creating art and writing fictional stories about my favorite fictional characters, earning me the title of Ultimate Fanfic Creator.” From how he spoke Makoto could tell that Yamada was proud of his title. But he wasn’t quite sure what it was that Yamada did. 

“Ultimate Fanfic creator? Interesting, so what is it exactly that you do?” Makoto asked.

“I’m glad you asked!” How enthusiastic he was being scared Makoto. “Basically, as a lover of the 2D world, I live to create content of my favorite characters. I make and sell drawings and stories of characters across dozens of different anime and videogame universes. Most of my creations are of the um…” He coughed. “Romantic genre. But I have no problem with that as it’s a fact that fictional women are perfect, which is a trait that can’t be replicated in real life.” Yamada finished his monologue and struck a dramatic pose. 

The five teens stood there for a few seconds.

“Well, while I respect Yamada’s passions I must say I don’t really understand them.” Celeste started. “I too respect the beauty of fictional women, but I think if Yamada opened his eyes he’d be able to see there any many perfect women in his world.” She finished with a roll of the eyes as she looked away from the group. Following her gaze, Makoto saw that she was looking at her classmates. Observing them, as if she was trying to decipher a secret code.

“I actually really like Yamada’s passions,” Chihiro said. “The fictional world is fascinating, and when I program I get into a zone.” He finished with bright eyes.

“Ah, a man of culture I see!” Yamada replied, to which Chihiro laughed softly. 

“Well, it was nice meeting you guys. I should probably say hi to everyone else now.” Makoto said, inching his way out of the group.

“Oh, okay! Bye Maizono, Makoto!” Chihiro said with a wave, Yamada quickly joined him, along with Celeste, who at some point redirected her focus to the two of them. 

“See you guys!” Maizono responded as she and Makoto left.

“They were nice,” Makoto said.

“Yeah, everyone here is I think,” Maizono replied

“I kinda like it here.”

“I’m glad.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM DONE WITH FINALS!!!!!!!!
> 
> this was really fun to write! One more chapter of intros and then we can start the murder. I hope I'm portraying everyone accurately enough but I'm changing the personalities slightly so that Junko isn't the mastermind and that the culprits won't all become culprits again etc. 
> 
> Also guys, Cyberpunk 2077 was a cyber FLOP IMO I don't recommend it. Anyways now I'm gonna go either watch kpop vids, play dead by daylight, or learn kpop dances. pray for me gays


	4. Chapter 1: Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Makoto and Maizono meet the rest of their classmates!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read end notes

“What’s the verdict captain? Think we can get them off?” The tan girl asked. Her friend was inspecting the iron bars on the windows as Makoto and Maizono approached them. 

“Sadly, by the looks of it these things aren’t coming off. They’re locked in extremely tightly.” The muscular girl said as she looked down, “Doesn’t seem like any human could take these off without the aid of mechanical tools.” 

“You say that… but have you tried pushing on them? Sometimes things like this LOOK like you should pull them off, but it’s just a trick to hide that you really need to push it.” The smaller girl suggested. 

“Well, that’s a good idea, sadly I already tried pushing on them.” Her friend said. The two of them looked at each other and then turned around as they heard Maizono and Makoto’s soft footsteps behind them. 

“Heya Makoto! How ya doin? Sup’ Maizono” The tan girl said. Makoto could tell she had a bit of pep in her step. 

“Hey, Asahina! Whatcha guys doing?” Maizono asked the pair. 

“We were inspecting the blockades that are covering the windows. Sadly it looks like it’s impossible to remove them.” The muscular girl responded. 

“Yeah, it’s definitely strange…” Asahina said, “But let's forget about that for now!” As she finished her sentence she turned to Naegi and slightly tilted her head. “I’m Aoi Asahina, Ultimate Swimming Pro.” 

The girl next to her then spoke, “And I’m Sakura Ogami, Ultimate Martial Artist. A pleasure to meet you.” Makoto thought that the two girls made for an odd pair, but seeing how they interacted made him think that their difference in styles made their chemistry very charming.

“Nice to meet you both,” Makoto said with a bow. “These metal sheets are intimidating, right? I haven’t seen a single window that’s unblocked.” For some reason, Makoto felt comfortable with these two, more so than he felt around anyone else besides Maizono.

“They certainly are… unsettling. I have heard of people trying to break into Hope’s Peak before though so hopefully they are just new safety precautions.” Sakura said, although the way she said it made Makoto think she didn’t see it as a real possibility.

“I’m sure everything will be explained soon enough,” Maizono said, “The headmaster will have to answer our questions once the opening ceremony begins.” 

“So all we can do is wait, huh?” Aoi said looking sad, “That sucks! I have all this energy to get started with school but I have nothing to spend it on!” A strongly determined look appeared on her face. “Sakura, want to spar?” All of a sudden Aoi took a fighting stance with her fists up and faced Sakura. In response, Sakura simply turned towards Aoi and mirrored her stance. Ready to fight. 

“Woah woah wo wo- I was just kidding girl, calm down!” Aoi said with her hands up. At once her determined eyes transformed into ones filled with fear instead. Sakura simply chuckled and stood back up in a resting stance. After a few seconds of pause, Makoto and Maizono laughed.  
“I love your guy’s chemistry, you two are seriously so hilarious together,” Maizono said. 

“Well, nice meeting you guys!” Makoto added, “I have to meet a few more people but we should seriously hang out once everything settles down.” For some reason, at this moment Makoto felt relaxed. There are a lot of different personalities in the class, but somehow to Makoto, they all made sense together.

“Alright, cya!” Aoi said, waving at the two of them. 

“See you soon,” Sakura said as Maizono and Makoto left. There were just four people left for them to meet, and luckily they all seemed to be in the same group. 

As the two of them approached the group of four they could feel the atmosphere intensify. The four teenagers weren’t arguing, but it seemed as if they didn’t really care for each other. 

“You really don’t care if you make enemies do you?” A girl with pink hair said. 

“I’m just saying if this guy is so important and rich how have I never heard his name before?” A red-haired boy said. 

“You’ve seriously n-never heard of the Togami family? W-what rock have you been living under?” A dark-haired girl with glasses spat. 

“I’d love to continue this conversation later, but for now it seems that Naegi has finally decided to grace us with his presence.” The other three teens fell silent as the tall and slender boy finished his sentence. All of a sudden there were four sets of eyes on Maizono and Makoto, and neither of them knew what to say. Maizono coughed a couple of paces behind the boy and gently pushed him on the back, urging him to say anything.

“Oh, um… hi! Uh, we can come back later if you guys were in the middle of something or-” Makoto said, but the blonde boy interrupted again.

“No, no need for that. Since no one else is stepping up I guess I’ll introduce myself. Name’s Byakuya Togami, Ultimate Affluent Progeny. That should be enough of an intro for you.” Out of everyone he had met so far, Makoto definitely thought Byakuya was the most off-putting. Although to be honest he wasn’t surprised. Everyone in Japan knew the Togami family. They were one of the most powerful conglomerates in the world and Byakuya was the heir to the ownership. 

“Nice to meet you Togami,” Makoto said, getting only a Hmph in return from his classmate.  
“You’ve got a lot of c-confidence speaking to the heir of the Togami empire like that.” The girl with glasses said in a condescending tone. “You should have at least bowed or called him sir or-” 

“Fukawa why don’t you introduce yourself and your talent to Naegi first? I’m sure everyone would appreciate that.” Maizono said as she tried to deescalate the situation.

“Ugh, whatever. Miss main character always knows how to save the day.” Fukawa shot back at Maizono, who just smiled sheepishly in return. “I’m T-toko Fukawa, Ultimate Writing Prodigy.” 

“Oh, so we have two ultimates who are skilled at creative writing.” Makoto observed, “Fukawa have you spoken to Yamada about his fanfiction? Maybe you guys have read each other’s work?” He asked.

“Ugh, as if,” Toko said. Makoto could tell she was judging him for saying that. “Fanfiction writers have to rely on characters made by other people to make a-anything good. A really talented writer makes their own plot, s-setting, characters, j-just everything about their story. Yamada’s only f-famous because he takes characters that p-p-people ask for online and makes them f-fuck each other in his sstories.” She spat at him, getting more passionate and less coherent by the second.

“Oh. I’m sorry for asking! I didn’t realize this was such a touchy subject.” Makoto replied. 

“You’re either an idiot or you completely ignored Yamada when he introduced himself to you. He practically told everyone who walked up to him about how h-horny all of his content is.” Toko said back. Makoto took a step back. It seemed like everything he said was wrong in Toko’s eyes. He looked back at Maizono, his eyes begging for her to save him from this conversation.

“Hey Fukawa, chill out, alright? The rest of us need to greet Naegi too.” The red-haired boy said. Like many of the other students, this boy looked familiar, but Naegi didn’t know how he recognized him. Toko grumbled at his words and stormed off. “Sorry about her, I’m trying to get her to loosen up but it’s been a challenge so far. She’s totally shaken up by waking up here I can tell, so don’t be quick to judge, yeah?” Hearing this boy's words Makoto felt like he could finally relax again. He grinned as he responded. 

“Yeah, that makes sense, thanks for breaking that up. So uh how do I recognize you? I swear I’ve seen your face before.” Makoto asked him.

“Y’know everyone’s been saying that to me all day, but I’m honestly not sure. I’ll tell you what I do know. The name’s Leon Kuwata, but I don’t remember anything else. Not even my own talent.”

\----- LEON KUWATA: ULTIMATE ??? ----- 

“Oh. Wow, that’s super unfortunate, sorry to hear that.” Makoto said. Huh. Makoto thought it was strange that only Leon was having trouble remembering his talent. He had a lot of questions, but he didn’t want to push Leon, everyone was confused enough as it was. 

“Yeah, it’s mega embarrassing. I was thinking maybe I was the lucky student of the year but then you showed up and ruined that theory of mine. It’s not that big of a deal though I guess. I’m hoping I remember with a little bit of time.” Leon said. Makoto was impressed with how laid back the redhead was. If Makoto couldn’t remember anything but his name he knew he’d be freaking out. 

“Ah don’t worry about it. You can’t control that, right? So don’t feel bad about it.” Makoto said.

“No, no, you’re right. I’m just talkin’ to talk y’know? Well anyways you still got one person left to hit up, so I’ll let you get to it. Just a heads up though, you might have to do most of the talking with this one.” Leon said, gesturing behind with his thumb. He must have thought that the girl was further back because his thumb was only centimeters away from poking the pink-haired girl in the forehead. 

“Are you done?” The pink-haired girl asked as Leon jumped in surprise. Makoto wasn’t sure if the girl had spoken more than twenty words since he arrived. 

“Oh! Uh sorry Kirigiri, no offense y’know?” Leon was looking more sheepish than ever. 

“I get it, none taken. You can go now.” Kirigiri responded. Leon took that cue and walked over to Mondo and Kiyotaka, who were still being as loud as ever. “Since you’re going to ask I might as well introduce myself. I’m Kyoko Kirigiri, Ultimate Detective.” The title surprised Makoto at first, but after a few moments of seeing how the girl acted, it actually made sense that the girl was a talented detective. 

“Well, it’s nice to meet you Kirigiri,” Makoto said. 

“Likewise.”

“How-” Before Makoto could say anything a voice rang throughout the main hall on the monitors. 

“Students, please report the gymnasium so that we can commence the opening ceremony.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLOT TWIST! Kirigiri ain't the ultimate ??? 
> 
> What does everyone think about Leon being the ??? Surprised? Not surprised? What does this mean for the plot o.o I'm excited to show everyone soon!


	5. Chapter 1: Part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kids meet Monokuma

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read end notes!

As the students opened the gymnasium doors a bright light flashed in their eyes, blinding them for a few seconds. A few of the students had audible reactions of varying surprise. But, as their vision came back they saw… a black and white carpet that covered the entire floor. Except, the carpet wasn’t clean. Scattered across the entire floor there were red streaks that stained the carpet. Makoto immediately thought that the streaks were wet, but as he bent down to touch it he realized they were actually a part of the cloth. At the other end of the gym there was a raised stage, and on top of it there was a single podium. And nothing else. 

“The hell is this?” Mondo asked as he walked towards the center of the gymnasium. In front of the stage in four rows of four there were fold out chairs. One for each of the students. 

“This carpet is… unsettling to say the least.” Celeste said. Going out of her way to avoid the red streaks as she walked. 

“For an opening ceremony this doesn’t seem very… grand.” Maizono said, her voice quivering slightly as she inched towards the chairs. 

“The chairs each have one of our names on them.” Kyoko pointed out, picking up one of the nametags on a chair. After a moment she folded up the piece of paper and sat down. 

“What are you doing?” Leon asked, seemingly taken back by how nonchalant Kyoko was being.

“What? Whoever’s organizing this wants us to sit down. If we want more information we need to comply.” Kyoko said bluntly, turning towards the stage. 

“I mean… that makes sense.” Junko added, “Doesn’t look like there’s anything else to do anyways.” She walked up to the chair closest to her and picked up the nametag, and after reading it she sat down. 

The atmosphere in the room changed, and one by one the students who were still standing sat down in their assigned spots.

“It seems there’s no other option.” Ogami said as she sat down.

“Yeah, but there’s nothing to worry about!” Aoi added as she joined her.

“It only makes sense to trust our headmaster’s instruction!” Kiyotaka exclaimed.

“Well if everyone else is doing it.” Said Leon as he plopped down in his seat. 

“...” Mukuro sat down quietly next to Junko.

“Hmph.” Mondo scoffed and joined his classmates.

“G-god why is everyone being so dramatic.” Toko snapped as she crumpled up her nametag.

“I for one actually appreciate the tense atmosphere.” Yamada pointed out. “It feels like a plot climax in a manga.” He added as he sat. 

Byakuya sat down without a word. 

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Chihiro said in a scared voice as he sat in between Togami and Kyoko. 

“There’s no need to worry, man. I can guarantee you that nothing bad will happen. I saw the future.” Yasuhiro said, patting Chihiro on the back as he sat behind him, making the smaller boy flinch. 

“I must say this scene has been rather amusing.” Celeste laughed as she joined the rest of the group. 

The only two left were Makoto and Maizono, and they could feel fourteen sets of eyes on them as they looked at each other. The two teens made eye contact for a second, and they both laughed awkwardly. “I guess we should join them?” Makoto asked, making Maizono smile.

“Yeah… let’s.” She responded. The only two seats left were in the third and fourth row, one directly in front of the other. Makoto said down and Maizono sat down directly behind him. 

As Maizono took her seat the entire room began to shake, the chairs clattered on the carpet and the students struggled to stay stable on the floor. Some of the students started to scream in fear as the rumbling intensified, and Chihiro and Yasuhiro fell over, knocking into several of their classmates as they fell. The panic within the room escalated as did the level of shaking until the voice from the main hall came back. 

“Students! Please calm down! We need to stay on schedule.” All of a sudden the shaking stopped, and as Makoto got a hold of his surroundings again he took in what he saw. The only students still sitting were Celeste, Kyoko, Byakuya, and Junko. Everyone else was standing except for Chihiro and Yasuhiro who had fallen to the ground. Chairs had been scattered across the entire gym, but Makoto focused his eyes in order to look for Maizono. 

Before he got the chance to though, he saw something he never would have expected.

“It’s time for my big entrance! Class 78 of Hope’s Peak Academy please give a round of applause for your headmaster, your grandmaster, your savior, Monokuma!” 

And suddenly Makoto had a body to match the cartoonish voice with. 

Out of seemingly nowhere a… bear plopped on top of the podium that lay on top of the stage. “Before everyone starts screaming like a pile of sweaty fanboys let me introduce myself.” The black and white bear said. Makoto took a look at the stuffed bear, there was a line separating the bear vertically down the center, with the white cute looking side being even more off-putting by the black side. The dark side of the bear had a smile that came straight from a horror movie, with large teeth that looked dangerous filling that side of its mouth and a jagged red eye that glowed contrasting with the black button eye on the white side.

“My name is Monokuma and I am the Headmaster of Hope's Peak Academy!" The thing struck a pose as if it was expecting applause, but only one rule biding student clapped, and he was soon stopped by Mondo.

"Eh?" Aoi said. "How does a teddy bear run a school? That doesn't make sense."

Junko started laughing hysterically "Is this some sort of prank? Am I supposed to believe this talking animatronic? What TV show are we on?" She asked, losing her breath as she laughed between each sentence. 

“While there are cameras placed throughout the school I can assure you that this is no prank, and I would appreciate it if you would all treat me with respect,” Monokuma said, sounding strangely formal as he stayed eerily still on top of the podium. 

“If this was the plot for some sort of anime I could buy it being serious, but having a bear for a headmaster in real life just makes no sense I believe,” Yamada said butting in. 

“Yeah, who’s controlling you? I’d like to talk to them instead. This weird bear is freaking me the fuck out.” Mondo said, to which some of the kids muttered in agreement. 

“Hmm… well I’m sorry to burst your bubble but you won’t be seeing anyone but me because I’m the one running things around here. If you have any complaints I’d love to ignore them.” The bear said, but it sounded as if it was getting agitated. 

“C-cut the crap and tell us what’s going on!” Fukawa spat, pointing a finger at Monokuma, “I will not take classes here while knowing that things are being operated by a teddy bear.” 

“Well, first of all, I’m not a teddy bear. I’m Monokuma. And second of all, you don’t need to be worried about class, I’m not operating a school.” The bear said as it laughed a strange laugh. 

“W-what do you mean?” Makoto asked the bear.

“Why thank you for asking Naegi,” The bear said. Makoto was taken aback by the bear using his name. “Well let me first tell you that we won’t be spending a semester here. No no no actually you guys are stuck here. For the rest of your lives.” That ignited a flame within the students, causing everyone to burst into a panic.

“The rest of our lives? That’s impossible! The police would never allow that, we’ll be saved within a week!” Kiyotaka exclaimed, sounding extremely sure of his claims.

“Ah the police, yeah you guys can’t rely on them.” Monokuma said, “I made sure that they’ll never be able to find us, and if they did I would be able to… take care of them.” The way the bear spoke sent chills down Naegi’s spine.

“B-but what about our phones?” Chihiro asked as he reached into his pocket. “What? They’re gone!” He cried out. All at once, the students checked their own pockets. No one had their stuff on them.

“So you have us trapped in here forever.” Kyoko said, “So what do we have to do to get out? It seems pointless to kidnap us unless there’s something you want us to do.” She finished, saying not a word more than she needed to.

“Ah, intuitive as ever Kirigiri, just what I’d expect from the Ultimate Detective,” Monokuma said. “You’re right there is one thing you can do and if you can do it I will let you out of this place, no matter what.” Monokuma finished his sentence and stopped talking. The sixteen students looked at him in anticipation. “Oh, right I should say what you need to do. Well, it’s really quite simple.” The bear said melodically. “All you have to dooooo… is murder one of your classmates.” His last sentence threw the students into a frenzy.

“Murder? The hell are you saying?” Leon shouted, his hands flying into his hair.  
“It’s really quite simple.” The bear responded. “Bludgeon, stab, hydraulic press, poison, set ablaze, drown, shoot, slice, mutilate, crush their windpipe I really don’t care! As long as you can murder one of your classmates, one of your fellow ultimates, and get away with it, I’ll let you go scot-free!” The bear tumbled off the podium and struck a pose.

“But why? Why make us murder when we’re supposed to be the future of this world?” Maizono asked, sounding petrified. 

“Upupupupu. What, you think a school killing game would be interesting if I chose a bunch of lame, plain, average high schoolers? No! I need the best of the best! And who else represents that than the next class of Hope’s Peak Academy?” The bear said as if his reasoning couldn’t be any more obvious.

“So the metal coverings on the windows are meant to keep us inside, yes? I would’ve preferred some nice drapes, but for your purpose, I guess the iron plates are a more suitable choice.” Celeste said, her hand covering her mouth as she spoke.

“Bingo, one point to Celeste. Yeah like I said earlier there’s no way to get out. You can scream and pound on the plates as much as you want but I’d rather you kids spend your time murdering.” Monokuma replied.

“This is just so wrong,” Junko said. “How do you even expect us to follow along with your little game? Mukuro could totally just take you out right now.” As she said that Mukuro took a step forward threateningly. 

“Oh, I wouldn’t try to do that,” Monokuma said. “You see, violence against the headmaster is actually forbidden under the rules of this school, and if any of the rules are violated I have methods of eliminating whoever dare defy me.” As he said that Monokuma pulled out a red button from nowhere and pressed it. The second he did, the earthquake from before came back, only this time it was stronger. The students were thrown to either side of the gymnasium and in the middle of the floor, following the exact line that separated the black and white parts of the carpet, a chasm appeared, swallowing every chair in the gym. A few seconds after the furniture was gone the rumbling stopped, and the floor violently pushed back together, throwing all sixteen students back into the middle of the gym. 

“The fuck was that?” Mondo groaned, rubbing the back of his head.

“If you still don’t believe me I could show you another example of what I can do.” The bear said. “But I can see from the cute little looks on your faces that you don’t need one. I bet you guys are all super excited to be my rule-following angels now, right? Well, you’re in luck!” Once again out of nowhere Monokuma pulled out sixteen tablets. “These are my trusty Monopads!” The bear exclaimed as he threw them into the air, each one landing perfectly in the laps of the students. “In there are each of the rules of this school. I suggest you all read them and remember them.” The students picked the tablets up cautiously. 

“Well I could explain more, but I think I should let things progress naturally for a bit. I think I’ll take my leave now. Toodles!” Monokuma did a few spins and disappeared into thin air. Leaving the students dazed and confused, sprawled all across the gymnasium floor.

Makoto sat there for a few seconds, staring at his Monopad, and with a sigh, he turned it on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a little hectic so I'm sorry about that but I hope you enjoyed it! The killing game has begun...


	6. Chapter 1: Part 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group makes a game plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read end notes

Rule #1: Students may reside only within the school. Leaving campus is an unacceptable use of time.

Rule #2: "Nighttime" is from 10 pm to 7 am. Some areas are off-limits at night, so please exercise caution.

Rule #3: Sleeping anywhere other than the dormitory will be seen as sleeping in class and punished accordingly.

Rule #4: With minimal restrictions, you are free to explore Hope's Peak Academy at your discretion.

Rule #5: Violence against headmaster Monokuma is strictly prohibited, as is the destruction of surveillance cameras.

Rule #6: Anyone who kills a fellow student and becomes "blackened" will graduate, unless they are discovered.

Rule #7: Once a murder takes place, a class trial will begin shortly thereafter. Participation is mandatory for all surviving students.

Rule #8: If the guilty party is exposed during the class trial, they alone will be punished.

Rule #9: If the guilty party is not exposed, they alone will graduate, and all remaining students will be punished.

Rule #10: Additional school regulations may be added if necessary.

Rule #11: The guilty party may only kill a maximum of two people during any single "Killing Game."

The students stared at each other silently as the tension in the room increased. Sayaka gripped Makoto’s sleeve for support as did Mukuro with Junko, but besides the two pairs, no one dared move. The silence in the gym was brutal and the lack of background noise was unsettling. Makoto could feel his forehead heat up, his body starting to stress sweat. 

“Well, there’s no way we’re gonna play into this bear’s game, right?” Leon asked the group. The student’s energy returned to their bodys and the room started to loosen back up.

“Y-yeah! There’s no way any of us would kill anyone.” Chihiro added, “We were invited to Hope’s Peak because we’re good people.” The boy put two fists to his chest as he spoke. Mukuro looked down after his second sentence.

“Totally, you’d have to be like, so messed up to murder just because a teddy bear said so.” Junko butted in. 

“We definitely must not murder, however, we must follow all of the other rules in the Monopad.” Celeste interjected, “We saw firsthand how dangerous that thing is. We don’t need to comply with its demands but we shouldn’t defy it. I fear what would happen if one of us were caught breaking the rules here.” As she finished her sentence Makoto could see fear strike his classmates. Everyone was still shaken up after the earthquakes Monokuma created.

“What do you recommend then?” Byakuya asked. “The rules explicitly say that we can never leave and if we follow the rules like you say we’ll be spending the rest of our lives in this school.” Byakuya did not sound happy, and his words struck a chord with the group.

“Yeah! What if we have families outside of here?” Aoi pointed out, “We can’t just stay here forever.” She said, getting audible support from people around her.

“Do you want to die?” Celeste said. Her eyes pierced into Aoi’s soul. “You all saw what Monokuma can do. If anyone tries to escape I guarantee they will be killed instantly. That’s why there are cameras all around the school. To keep an eye on us at all times.” Once again the group went silent. Only this time the silence didn’t last as long.

“So we really have to stay here forever?” Sayaka asked

“No, you could kill someone,” Kirigiri said, making everyone turn around and stare at her. 

“Why would you say that? That’s not even like… a real option.” Yasuhiro said.

“What? You think I’m going to murder?” Kirigiri asked, “I won’t, but some of the people here won’t be able to handle these circumstances, and it might cause them to make bad choices.” Her words lingered in the air as they sunk into Makoto’s head. Could he trust his classmates? He could trust Maizono for sure, but what about everyone else? Some of the people in this room seemed less than dependable. And that was scary. 

“So what do we do?” Sakura asked. 

“We can’t just sit here and wait for something to happen. We need to take action!” Kiyotaka added.

“Well, the first thing a group of teenagers in a killing game usually do is investigate the place they’re trapped in! We should search the school even if all we learn is the layout of the school, the investigation will still be helpful I’d say.” Hifumi announced. 

“Maybe searching the area can help us figure out who’s keeping us in here,” Makoto said. 

“It seems unlikely.” Sayaka said, “Whoever set this up is clearly very thorough, but we can’t just sit here doing nothing. In a situation like this, we need to keep morale up!” The girl said with a sudden burst of determination, and Makoto smiled at the girl as she spoke up. The two made eye contact for a moment, and as Sayaka realized how Alpha she had been she blushed intensely and looked away. 

“It seems as if we have a plan,” Sakura said. “Any objections?” She asked the group, but no one spoke up. 

“We should split up into groups of four to be most efficient,” Mukuro spoke up for the first time since they got to the gymnasium. “That way each group is equal and no one is at risk of being killed.” The soldier’s words lingered on Makoto’s mind. The killing game had already started, and while the boy wanted to trust all of his classmates, the fear of being murdered stayed at the back of his mind.

“S-She’s right,” Toko said. “The r-rules say you can only murder two people. So in a g-group of four, you can’t murder without having a witness.” 

“It’s the safest option that also covers as much ground as possible,” Kirigiri added.

“So should we split up, and maybe meet back here in an hour?” Chihiro suggested. “It’s almost eleven right now so if we meet back at the main hall at twelve we can share what we find. Does that sound good?” The boy asked.

“Sounds good to me, kid,” Mondo said. “I’ll take Ishimaru, Kuwata, and Fujisaki with me. The rest of you can figure out how the groups will work from there.” As he finished he pushed Fujisaki along with him by the shoulders and the other two boys followed swiftly behind Mondo.  
As the group of boys left Celeste spoke up next, “Yamada will be coming with me.” She declared in a way that didn’t allow any argument. “Asahina, Ogami would you like to join us?” 

“Umm. Sure! That sounds alright.” Aoi said as she grabbed Sakura’s arm. “We should go now, don’t want to waste any time figuring out what’s going on here.” The swimmer took charge of the group, running out of the doors while dragging Sakura behind her. Celeste and Yamada walked behind them.

“Let me know if you need anything Ms. Celeste, it’s only polite to offer my services as a gentleman.” Makoto heard Hifumi say as the group exited. 

The eight students left stared at each other.

“Well me and Mukuro want to team up with Naegi and Maizono,” Junko announced. “So then the other four of you can be a group. Sound good?” 

“You two want to pair up with us?” Makoto asked the sisters, surprised to be chosen by the famous model.

“Well, I just really wanted to get to know Maizono better, and you two are attached at the hip so I have to bring both of you. You know I’ve been offered the chance to debut as a pop idol by so many different companies in so many different countries but I’ve never taken the plunge.” Junko grabbed Sayaka’s hand and pulled her towards the door while Mukuro and Makoto trailed close behind them. “I know you’ve done some modeling yourself Maizono. Your stuff’s good but once we’re out of here I could totally set you up…” Junko’s voice never really stopped, but it faded out as Makoto decided to try and talk to Mukuro.

“So how are you holding up?” Makoto asked the soldier. “It’s pretty scary, right? Everything’s happening so fast.” The more he observed the girl the more apparent it became that her expression never really changed. Her eyes stayed focused as if she was staying on high alert during an ambush.

“I’m not worried about myself,” Mukuro said bluntly. “This situation wouldn’t even be stressful if it was just me with fifteen strangers… but I’m scared for Junko.” For the first time, Makoto saw Mukuro’s guard go down without her sister’s help. “By myself, I could defend myself against anyone who tried to kill me, but I can’t always protect her.” A look of sadness brushed across the girl’s face. Makoto felt empathetic for the girl immediately.

“I get that, Junko seems really independent and outgoing. It seems her adventurous attitude could put her in danger, especially in a situation like this.” The boy bounced back at Mukuro, to which she nodded in reply. 

“Yeah. And it has before… but it’s not my place to share that story.” Mukuro said.

“Okay.” Makoto said plainly. The two looked at each other, and Mukuro smiled as the gymnasium doors closed behind them.

The four remaining students said nothing for a brief moment.

“Alright dudes, guess this is the loser group,” Yasuhiro said sarcastically as he put his hands on Byakuya and Kyoko’s shoulders, both of whom brushed the Clairvoyant off immediately. “But hey, the loser group tends to be the most fun!” The boy took off towards the doors while the three others trailed at varying levels of slow. 

“Tch, the n-nerve to call us the l-loser group.” Toko said.

“Let's just get this over with.” Byakuya added.

Kyoko said nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took a bit longer! We're done making easy stuff from now on basically everything is gonna be the plotline I created so woo.
> 
> Next 4 chapters are gonna be each different group investigating. I want each character to shine with a lot of lines.
> 
> STREAM BAZOOKA! BY GWSN the song is so important. 
> 
> happy early Christmas gays


	7. The Dudes, Chapter 1: Part 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chihiro, Mondo, Leon, and Kiyotaka explore the school

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Small panic attack

"You need to back off of me right now dude," Mondo growled as he pushed his finger into the Moral Compasses forehead. "Just because I lead a kick-ass gang doesn't mean I'm gonna start murderin' people. Especially not if some freak bear tells me to." The boy finished as he turned around and walked further down the hallway.

"Owada I wish you would stop ignoring my concerns!" The spiky-haired boy shouted as he followed the biker. "Out of every student here you have the most dangerous background. It's absolutely vital to keep you under harsh surveillance at all times in order to keep everyone safe." Kiyotaka added and grabbed the taller boy's arm. But as he did so the biker lashed back around.

"Whatever dude," Mondo said as he forced Kiyotaka’s hand off. "Just stay away from me." 

"What's up with those two?" Chihiro asked Leon.

"Man, I've got no idea." The redhead said and he chuckled. "They were total buddies before but I don’t think either of them can handle stress so well. You gotta give them some slack though,” The boy added, “You can’t really expect anyone to keep their cool right now.” 

“That’s true…” The programmer agreed. “Um, how about you? I know we’re all kinda freaking out but you have it the worst with your memories not working. Do you uh, remember anything before you woke up today?” The boy asked, his timid sounding voice not shaking at all when he showed concern for Leon. 

“Honestly… no.” The redhead responded. “I mean, I know my name and like, I have my vocabulary. But I don’t remember anything.” Chihiro looked at him sympathetically, but Leon rejected his concern. “I actually see it as sort of a blessing though. I mean, I don’t have anything on the outside to worry about y’know?” Leon asked the smaller boy who looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“Actually, I don’t really get what you mean. You’re happy that you don’t have your memories?” Chihiro asked Leon who put a hand on the programmer’s shoulder.  
“Well, you guys all have your families at home to worry about and also your talents,” Leon said while looking up as if there was something down the hall Chihiro couldn’t see. “Obviously I want to live, but you guys have, like, obligations to stay alive. If you die your family will be devastated and the future of programming will be stunted, but if I get killed here I’m just some kid who died in a tragedy.” Chihiro watched Leon as he spoke. The redhead’s eyes never left the spot he was staring at and his expression stayed pleasant throughout the monologue. 

“How do you say something so depressing with that look on your face!” Chihiro shouted, which broke Leon out of his trance. “If you keep thinking like that you’re gonna lose your will to live!” The boy declared, getting red in the face. Leon put his hands up in defense as he saw Chihiro’s anger.

“Nonono don’t worry about that,” Leon said as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “I really want to live, I mean, who doesn’t? I just…” The boy sighed and his shoulders slumped. “I don’t know what I was saying, I was just letting my mind go wild.” The jock said and put his hand on top of the shorter boy's head. “Sorry for freakin’ you out dude, I promise I’m not gonna stop trying to live.” Leon said, which made Chihiro smile.

“It’s alright,” Chihiro replied. “As you said, we’re all totally panicking right now and no one’s thinking rationally… which is exactly what Monokuma wants.” The programmer's words made both of the boy’s expressions darken. “Ugh, I’m freaking out!” He burst out. “I need to go do something useful so we can all get out of here!” Without skipping a beat Chihiro charged ahead into a door at the end of the hallway, running past Mondo and Kiyotaka in the process. 

“Woah, what’s goin’ with the kid?!” Mondo yelled and looked backward at Leon, looking for a response. But the redhead just shrugged in response. 

“Fujisaki! Please slow down or you might hurt yourself!” The moral compass shouted, walking after the boy as briskly as possible. 

“Did you say something to make him do that?” Mondo yelled at Leon who covered his face with his arms as the biker approached.

“I don’t know!” Leon shouted. “We were just talking and then all of a sudden the dude just ran off! I swear I didn’t do anything.” The boy declared as he stared Mondo in the eyes.

“Well, you must’ve said something because he was fine until you two started talking!” Mondo shouted, getting up in Leon’s face. 

“Dude! Before you beat me up can we go find Fujisaki and make sure nothing happens to him?” Leon pushed Mondo back, which put a surprised look on the biker’s face, but after a moment a purposeful look replaced it.

“Yeah, sure,” Mondo replied and he turned towards the door Kiyotaka and Chihiro disappeared behind. “Let’s go.” He finished. Mondo ran after his classmates, with Leon trailing a couple of seconds behind him. 

Leon didn’t know why, but for some reason, his forehead started to sweat. His breathing started to quicken and it looked as if the hallway extended, creating an impassable distance between the redhead and the door his classmates were behind. 

One step. Two steps. Three.  
Bang.

The boys stopped in place. 

“What the fuck was that?!” Mondo yelled, his hands flying into his hair while a look of stress jumped onto his face. 

“Just go!” Leon screamed, pushing Mondo out of the way as he went for the doorknob. He grabbed it, but as his clammy hand grasped the knob he couldn’t turn it. 

It was too soon. 

Nothing bad was gonna happen this early? Right?

“Are you gonna open the door?!” 

Leon turned the doorknob and opened the door, and he saw a body he wasn’t ready to see.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

On the other side of the door, there was an ocean of video players, with a large projector screen on the far wall opposite of Leon. On the screen, there was a western movie already playing and currently one of the cowboys was standing over another one’s body, with a gun in his hand.

Oh.

Thank god. 

Leon saw Kiyotaka examining the video players, going down each row looking under and around each desk as he went. 

“Oi! The hell you doin’ Ishimaru?” Mondo yelled from behind him. “You find Fujisaki yet?” 

Kiyotaka shot up from behind one of the video players. “No Owada, that’s why I’m still looking. Why would I be doing this if I knew where Fujisaki was?!” He yelled back, which Mondo scoffed at.

“Tch, sound like my brother.” Leon heard the biker say. “Let's just find the kid so we can all stop freakin’ the fuck out,” Mondo shouted back. The biker looked to his right and in the corner of the room there was another door and faintly from the direction of the strange door, he heard sniffling.  
“Hey, you hear that?” He asked Leon, who looked at him with a confused face.

“No, what’s going on?” Leon asked, looking at the door that the gang leader pointed at. He took a few steps to the right and then he heard it. “Oh.” He said turning around to make eye contact with the biker once again.

“What do we do?” The biker asked Leon, completely unsure of what to do to comfort their crying classmate. Sadly both of the boys were totally clueless and they were left standing awkwardly in front of the door Fujisaki was hidden behind, making awkward hand gestures at each other. After a minute Mondo sighed and made a gesture that said “Fine, I’ll do it.” 

The biker knocked on the door, “Hey Fujisaki, can we come in?” As he knocked he hear the boy inside gasp. “We just want to make sure you’re doing alright.” He said gruffly. 

Fujisaki sniffed from behind the door, “Okay…” The boy said and he stood up to open the door. Leon took a step back as the door swung out towards him and as he walked back he took a look inside the small closet to see… shelves and shelves of files. 

But before Leon could enter the room Chihiro flung himself into Leon’s arms, putting his face into the redhead’s chest. The taller boy stood there awkwardly for a second, but after a moment he wrapped his arms around the smaller boy, patting his back comfortingly. The two stood there for a few moments and Leon looked up at Mondo, proceeding to engage in a silent conversation. 

Leon opened his eyes wide at Mondo, and then quickly looked back and forth between Chihiro and Mondo. “What do I do?”

Mondo shrugged, giving Leon a sideways smile. “Dunno.”

Leon shot a scared look at the biker. “Help.”

Mondo flashed his teeth at the redhead and gave him a thumbs up. “You got this.”

Then all of a sudden Chihiro broke the embrace and took a step back. His eyes were closed and his cheeks were red. “Sorry for the random hug.” The programmer said as he hid his face behind his hair. “I want you to know that you weren’t the reason I ran away. I’m just really scared.” The boy said between sniffles and hics. “I don’t want to die.” 

Mondo walked up and put his hands on Chihiro’s shoulders from behind. “Hey. I don’t want to hear any of that. I’m personally gonna make sure no one dies, alright?” He asked Chihiro, who nodded timidly. “Okay. We’re all gonna get out of here alive. But in order to do that we need to work together and communicate. That means whenever you have those fucked up thoughts about dying you let us know, otherwise we can’t do shit to help you.” Leon looked at Mondo in surprise at the sudden display of compassion. Even if it was filled with cusses. 

“Dang Oowada, I uh… wasn’t expecting that from you,” Leon said as he made a toothy grin.

“I’m fuckin’ serious though.” Mondo said, “We need to work together if we’re gonna live. Otherwise, we’re all gonna murder each other like that damn teddy bear wants us to.” He finished with a scowl on his face. 

“Yeah. Yeah! We can do this.” Chihiro said. He opened his mouth to continue, but before he could the trio was interrupted. 

Suddenly a hand grabbed Leon’s shoulder and pushed him backward. Kiyotaka brushed past both of the boys with great speed and bowed down at the waist to Chihiro. 

“Fujisaki, I would like to formally apologize if I contributed to the distress that caused your outburst. The last thing I want to do is create a hostile environment between us classmates and I hope that we can return to a place of comradery and peace!” As Kiyotaka rose up from his bow his face was red and he had an embarrassed look on his face. “When my classmates are not enjoying themselves it makes me restless sp please let me know if there’s anything I can do to make your life here better!” Kiyotaka’s face burned, partially at the embarrassment of his speech and also because of his guilt for not noticing Chihiro’s stress earlier. 

The programmer chuckled. “I’m alright Ishimaru. Thanks for being so concerned but I’m fine now. Seriously.” Chihiro said with his hands up at his shoulders. “No need to worry about me.”

“Oh,” Kiyotaka said flatly. His cheeks burned even hotter. “Well, I’m glad that we were able to resolve this in such a timely manner.” The hall monitor said. Kiyotaka looked into the room Chihiro was hiding behind. “What’s this?” He asked Chihiro, seeing the files that were lined up along the walls. 

“Oh right!” Chihiro chimed, “You guys have to see this. Whoever’s keeping us here has profiles on every single one of us. They have so much information about us in these files.” Chihiro handed Kiyotaka his file, the boy opened the folder and was shocked by the contents

Kiyotaka Ishimaru - 

Height: 5’9  
Weight: 146 lbs  
Notable Family: Toranosuke Ishimaru (Grandfather), Takaaki Ishimaru (Father).

Seemed reasonable so far.

Fears: Failure, Heights, Spiders, Death, Disapproval.  
Allergies: Shellfish (Minor), Wasps(Minor), Penicillin (Strong), Peanuts (Extreme).  
Weaknesses: Doesn’t check blindspots when focused. Extremely gullible. ADHD.  
Criminal Record: N/A

What? How did they know all of these things about him? Kiyotaka’s hands started to clam up and the boy’s eyes started to dilate as he continued reading.

Secrets: Resents his family, Born out of an affair, A- 

“Are you alright dude?” Mondo grabbed Kiyotaka’s arm and the moral compass realized that he was shaking. Kiyotaka’s eyes couldn’t focus on anything, they darted back and forth from Mondo to the file to Chihiro to the file to Leon. How could anyone know these things? He’s never told anyone ever in his life. His breathing quickened and he started to feel lightheaded.

Snap out of it.  
Before his hyperventilating could increase any further Kiyotaka forced himself to take a deep breath. In. One. Two. Three… Out. One. Two. Three. The boy shook his body around for a second and reoriented himself back to his surroundings. Mondo. Mondo asked him a question.

“Yeah, I’m fine, sorry about that,” Kiyotaka said, trying to sound as stable as possible. “You guys need to read all of your files, I have no idea how Monokuma collected all of this information but there are extremely personal details recorded about me in this document. Things I would not like revealed to you all.” He informed his classmates. Mondo and Leon grabbed their files from Chihiro. Kiyotaka looked back at the piece of paper in his hand and contemplated reading the rest of it, but decided against it. Carefully he slipped it back into the folder and grabbed the folder

“Yeah, I read mine while I was in here. Uh, don’t worry I didn’t look at anyone else’s.” Chihiro said, which brought Kiyotaka some relief. The two of them waited as Mondo and Leon read their files, and Kiyotaka couldn't help but notice that Mondo had multiple papers in his folder while he and Leon had one. 

Leon quickly finished reading his document and threw the paper to the ground. "This is so annoying, my file doesn't say anything about me. Everything besides my allergies and my weight and height are just filled with question marks! All I learned is that I'm allergic to nuts!" Leon shouted as he put his hands into his hair. Kiyotaka couldn't even imagine the stress that the redhead was going through. 

"So your memories being gone is something that Monokuma caused!" Chihiro pointed out, "There's a reason they don't want you to know anything." He added, looking deep in thought.

"Yeah, that's true…" Leon said. "I guess I am important somehow then if Monokuma put the effort into only wiping my memory." 

Just then Mondo finished reading his documents. "We need to give these to their owners. It's too dangerous to leave these here because someone could just read all of our secrets." He said, grabbing the two boxes full of files.

The three agreed and decided on a plan. They would distribute the files at the gymnasium when they regrouped and make sure not to read any of them but their own. Everyone's privacy needed to be preserved because their secrets being exposed could drive someone to murder. 

Once they decided their plans the four walked out of the A/V room.

BANG!

Chihiro whipped his head around.

Oh.

It's just the western movie again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays y'all!


	8. The Misfits, Chapter 1: Part 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Celeste, Hifumi, Aoi, And Sakura explore the infirmary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read end notes

"Soooooooo… what's your favorite dessert?" The swimmer asked Sakura. Aoi was currently piggybacking on Sakura, whose eyes were closed as the swimmer used her hands to steer. Several paces behind the pair were Hifumi and Celeste who were walking leisurely compared to the athletes who marched down the halls. 

"Asahina I already told you I don't eat sweets." The martial artist replied. Sakura took a hard right as Aoi pushed down on her shoulder.

"Okay but what about like on your birthday? Or on Christmas?? How are you seriously telling me you've never eaten a donut before?" Aoi asked the same question in various ways with Sakura answering the same way each time. 

“I don’t understand how you can be so athletic and still eat like a toddler,” Sakura said, sounding puzzled. "One time I had too many rice cakes from my grandmother’s house and the next day I felt two weeks of training evaporate from my body.” The fighter explained. She was slightly envious of the girl’s metabolism but at the same time, she could tell that her rigorous diet and training schedule gave her a greater sense of restraint, which would be a great factor in her new life here.

“I’m not really sure either. I guess it’s probably just genetics.” The swimmer responded, putting a finger to her mouth as she tilted her head. “I’ve never really gone on a diet either… I must be super lucky since I can just eat whatever I feel like.” Aoi said as she puffed her cheeks out with a troubled expression on her face.

Sakura noticed Aoi’s distress when she tightened her grip on the fighter’s shoulders, so Sakura questioned the girl, “What’s upsetting you?” She asked simply. The taller girl slowed down a bit.

“Well, I just think it sucks that you have to limit what foods you enjoy to stay in shape.” She responded, and Sakura could feel Aoi’s legs stiffen around her waist. “It’s super unfair that you can’t binge out. Like, I can eat as many donuts as I want and still be the ultimate swimmer. Trust me, it’s true because I do it every other week. But if you binged out you probably wouldn’t be the ultimate fighter because… I don’t know because your body hates you!” Aoi said, flopping her arms and head over Sakura’s chest.

Sakura merely chuckled at the swimmer’s dramatic display, “It’s alright Aoi.” She said confidently. “Even if I missed out on donuts there are other things… other people that my practice has brought into my life. People that I wouldn’t trade for the world.” She finished ominously. Aoi wanted to press Sakura further for details but decided to leave it for another time.

Suddenly from behind them, they heard “Sorry for interrupting ladies, but I think we should investigate this room over here!” Hifumi yelled out from behind the girls. Sakura turned around and opened her eyes to see a set of pink doors with a heart in the center of each one. 

“While I did enjoy eavesdropping on that conversation the two of you were having, the infirmary here does seem like an area of importance,” Celeste added. She pointed at the sign above her head with her silver nail, causing Aoi and Sakura to look up at the sign that said “Infirmary”. 

“The infirmary could be the most important room here if anyone receives any critical injuries,” Sakura said briefly, which sent a chill down Hifumi and Aoi’s spines. 

“Well anyways,” Hifumi started, “We should probably investigate this room now.” The fanfiction writer said as he put a hand on one of the doors and pushed, revealing a rather… intimidating looking room. 

Celeste looked over Hifumi’s shoulder and was taken back, to say the least. On the wall opposite of the entrance sat a large cabinet that extended to both ends of the room and inside there were rows and rows of bottles. What they contained was a mystery but Celeste could guess easily enough. 

Immediately the gambler walked to the cabinet and opened it, grabbing the first bottle she saw. “Arsenic.” She thought out loud as she read the label. The gambler used her nail to pop the cap open and reveal the bottle filled to the brim with capsules. Arsenic capsules. Celeste looked behind her to see her three classmates standing timidly at the door. “Come here and help me investigate this shelf.” She commanded, causing all three of them to dash over to the medicine cabinet, each student opening up a different section.

Celeste examined a plethora of different medicine bottles; suvorexant, bisacodyl, sertraline, cyanide. Each container held different drugs and chemicals with every sort of effect one could ask for. There were laxatives, antidepressants, sleeping pills, and most commonly, poisons. Feeling overwhelmed, the gambler closed the cabinet and looked at her classmates around her, and she could see Sakura’s face drain of color as she picked up a particular bottle of poison. 

“This is… overwhelming,” Aoi said as she shut her cabinet. The swimmer let out an exhausted breath and wrapped herself in her arms as she sat down on one of the hospital beds. 

“Monokuma really wants us to have every resource necessary to… graduate,” Hifumi added as he pressed his hands into his head, a drop of sweat sliding down his face. 

Celeste paused for a moment, and then brushed off her dress as she stood up. “Hm… well all we can do about this is inform the others about this.” She said as she sat down beside Aoi, “Poison becomes much less dangerous when everyone knows about it.” She concluded, which the others nodded slowly in reply. Then the gambler added, “We better be careful about accepting food from others now.” 

Suddenly the realization that any one of their classmates could be looking to kill dawned upon the quartet. “Am I gonna have to worry about every piece of food I eat?” Aoi asked the group, clutching her stomach.

“No.” Celeste lied, “We just need to trust that no one will try to murder one of us.” The gambler explained, trying her best to keep her voice from shaking. 

“Well personally I can guarantee that I will never murder any of my fellow classmates as if I was some heathen,” Yamada said, suddenly gaining back his confidence as he struck a pose. “It’s only my responsibility as a member of this class that I ensure the safety of everyone!” He yelled out, causing Celeste to roll her eyes.

“Promises mean nothing in a game like this.” She said with a tone of disgust, effectively shutting up Hifumi. “You win this game by lying. The only way you can gain our trust is through your actions, NOT your words.” She added, her words having an impact that Hifumi could feel in his chest.

“Celeste please, You’re being far too harsh.” Sakura interrupted. “You just said we need to trust each other but now you’re attacking Yamada.” The fighter finished her sentence with her eyes closed as she shut the cabinet in front of her with her left hand. 

“Yeah!” Aoi agreed. “Honestly out of everyone here I think Yamada is one of the most trustworthy. Sakura too.” The swimmer said, purposefully leaving Celeste out of her list. Aoi considered Celeste to be one of the most confusing people in the school. “Honestly Celeste you’re always talking about keeping the trust but your attitude makes me not trust you…” 

“Hmph. That’s fine.” Celeste spat back. “I know that I can live here in peace even if that means I’ll never get out. But I doubt the rest of you have the same amount of willpower as I do.” Celeste walked towards the door, “You three are boring me.” She said, promptly exiting the infirmary as she left the others behind. 

The others stayed in their places for a few moments. “Maybe I should check on her,” Yamada said timidly before getting up.

“No, let her be,” Sakura interjected, making Yamada sit right back down. “She’ll calm down in a bit but for now she should be left to herself.” The girl said.

“Ah… Usually, in a situation like this, the man rushes after the distressed maiden. But I’ll trust you Sakura.” Hifumi remarked, which got a chuckle out of the fighter. “The manga and anime I watch is almost exclusively made by men, so your judgment is probably better than mine.” He added, which made the two girls smile.

“I didn’t want to make her storm off but she was being really rude!” Aoi said while pouting, “The way she speaks just makes me so paranoid, I can never tell what she’s thinking and it scares me.” The swimmer said, to which Sakura agreed.

“She is certainly… unsettling” The fighter added, “I’m unsure whether or not she’s dangerous but I would not want to be alone with her.” Even though Sakura knew that she could defend herself against Celeste in a duel, the craftiness that the gambler possessed was intimidating. Especially in a game like this. 

“I know that Celeste seems abrasive,” Hifumi started. “But deep inside I truly do believe that she has a pure heart.” He said in the girl’s defense. “Even though she got argumentative it was just because she wanted to ensure the safety of everyone here. All of us want to stay alive, and we can’t blame Celeste for getting defensive.” The fanfiction writer finished, his words honestly surprising the two girls. The things Hifumi said brought a new point of view into the discussion that Aoi and Sakura hadn’t yet considered.

“I guess that’s true,” Aoi said. “Celeste seems like the kind of person that wouldn’t get phased by anything, but maybe she’s freaking out just as much as the rest of us…” She suddenly felt a sense of empathy for Celeste. “Still it doesn’t excuse her for putting all of those awful thoughts into our head. I want to be able to eat whatever I want without being scared of dying.” The thought of being too scared to eat left a hole in the swimmer’s heart that could only be filled with pastries.

“I agree that what Celeste said was uncalled for, but I also believe that understanding where she’s coming from would be beneficial for everyone.” Hifumi said, “She definitely doesn’t wish harm upon any of us but I fear that if we isolate her because of her personality that her intentions will change.” Hifumi’s words lingered in the air. If Celeste wasn’t dangerous right now it was possible that someone could push her to become so. 

“Yamada is right, even if Celeste seems rude getting into arguments with her will just increase the likelihood of something tragic happening,” Sakura said. “We should make it a priority to make sure everyone feels comfortable… or at the least like they’re not hated.” Celeste didn’t want anyone to get hurt because of a lack of communication, and she certainly didn’t want to isolate one of her classmates for having one disagreement.

“It sounds like we have a plan then. We’ll give Celeste a bit of time, and then make sure that she knows we want her here.” Aoi said with determination.

Hifumi and Sakura nodded in agreement.

\---- Meanwhile ----

Celeste speed-walked into the bathroom, running into the big stall and locking the door behind as she let herself slide down the wall, exhaling loudly as she dropped to the floor. Celeste put the palms of her hands to her eyes and started to scratch her scalp with her nails. “I hate it here. I work my entire life to become the best just to be sentenced to death the next day. What’s the point?” She spat out, throwing her hands down to her sides. “I deserve better than this.” She muttered, letting her hands fall to her side. Celeste hated the bear that trapped her in this school. Hope’s Peak was supposed to be Celeste’s first stepping stone on her path to becoming a legend.

Instead, the school was a place where she might just become a memory. 

“I’m gonna make it out of here.” She said, trying desperately to convince herself that everything would turn out in her favor. “There’s no way I’m going to let myself die in a shithole like this.” Celeste declared, standing up as if she was putting herself into a fighting stance. 

Suddenly she lashed out with her nails.

Out of nowhere, Celeste slashed the stall door, leaving four gashes where her nails sliced through the plastic. The gambler looked at the damage she made, feeling satisfied with the amount of anger she let out. 

She scoffed as she exited the bathroom and decided to go back to the infirmary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM GOING ON A DIET. Yall I'm gonna become a skinny legend. Sorry, this update was kinda late I did not know how to write Hifumi or Celeste so I had to do some research to make a portrayal that I was satisfied with.


	9. The Popular Kids and their friends, Chapter 1: Part 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Junko, Mukuro, Sayaka, and Makoto explore the school, and maybe they bump heads too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read end notes

While every other group wandered the school looking for an area to investigate, this group marched with a purpose to a very specific room. Well, the leader of the group had a purpose. The sound of heels clicking echoes throughout the hallways, staying at a constant pace while the panicked steps of sneakers struggled to keep up. 

“Enoshima where are we going?” Sayaka asked the fashionista as she let herself be dragged down the halls by Junko, who still had a grip on the idol’s wrist. Sayaka stumbled, almost falling to the ground as she got pulled forward by the gazelle of a girl in front of her. 

“We’re going to the most important room in this school, duh,” Junko responded, leaving it at that and leaving everyone else confused as she stomped down the hallway. 

“I- What does that mean? Can you explain what’s going on?” Makoto sputtered out as he transitioned to a slow jog behind the girls. The walking pace he usually used just was not working with Junko leading them. 

“Junko gets like this. Once she sets her mind on a goal she’ll stop at nothing to achieve it. Even if the goal is something as simple as walking to a particular room.” Mukuro explained. While Makoto and Sayaka couldn't keep up with Junko, he noticed that the soldier had no problems keeping up with her sister. In fact, the two of them walked at the same pace, as if their legs were in sync.

“Sis, stop psychoanalyzing me why don’tcha. You know I hate it when people do that.” Junko shouted back, surprising both Mukuro and Makoto. They had both thought that they were out of the blonde’s earshot. Apparently, Junko's hearing was better than even Mukuro thought. 

“Junko I’m not analyzing you, I’m speaking from past experiences.” The soldier argued, “I said that because I’ve been in this situation a thousand times.” Mukuro said, making Sayaka chuckle. It didn't always seem like it, but the two were definitely siblings. 

“Okay, that’s fair,” Junko admitted, her eyes scanning the walls. Suddenly, as the group entered a new section of the school the fashionista took a hard left. “Oh my god finally!” She squealed and rushed into the room, pulling both doors open and disappearing behind them, dragging Sayaka with her inside. Makoto stood there for a second. He was shocked by the sudden abruptness. 

Makoto realized that the doors were about to close in front of him and Mukuro, but before the doors got the chance the soldier dashed in front of the boy and pushed them back open, holding one of the doors open for Makoto. Makoto blushed, “Um, thanks.” he said looking down, slightly embarrassed. Mukuro said nothing as the lucky students walked into the room and silently followed him as the doors closed behind her. 

Once Makoto walked inside he was surprised to see that Junko led them to the cafeteria. A pretty average looking one at that. In the center of the room, there was a large circular table with sixteen chairs surrounding it, as well as several smaller tables around the perimeter. Along one of the walls, there was a window like the ones lunch ladies would hand out trays through, with a door on the side that must have led to the pantry that Junko and Sayaka were hiding in. 

“Naegi!” Sayaka’s voice called out. Makoto looked up to see the idol’s head peeking through the window. “Come, here you gotta check this out!”She yelled at the boy, motioning with her hand to come into the pantry before disappearing again past the window. Sayaka popped up again, “Mukuro you too!” 

Still in the main part of the cafeteria, the more introverted half of the four stood there for a moment. The two of them could hear Sayaka and Junko making some sort of rustling noise in the pantry, but what they were doing was still a mystery to Makoto.

Mukuro chuckled, "Ah." She said to herself before walking towards the door, her shoulder gently brushing Makoto's as she passed him.  
The boy stayed behind for a second but quickly followed Mukuro as she entered the pantry. It sounded as if Mukuro knew something he didn't. But everything became clear as Makoto entered the pantry.

Makoto walked in to see crates and barrels filled with food. There were fruits, vegetables, meats, loaves of bread, basically anything you could imagine, and each item shined in the light as if to show that everything was top quality. But the most obvious thing Makoto noticed in the room was Junko, who was currently stuffing her face. "You have no idea how long it’s been since I’ve taken a cheat day.” She said to no one in particular as she ate another sweet roll. “I swear I haven’t had a carb in a decade.” The girl looked as if she had just ascended to a new world, the smile on her face looking more than just happy. “I swear as soon as that stupid black and white thing said that we should kill each other I knew I had to come here. There’s literally nothing that will make you just forget whatever you want more than good food.” 

“Junko the last thing we need to do right now is to forget about what’s happening. If you let your guard down someone could easily kill if you’re not paying attention.” Mukuro scolded her sister, but while her tone was serious the soldier still sounded more playful than usual. Makoto looked over at the girl to see a smirk resting on her face as she watched her sister eat. 

“Also, where did all this food come from? Do you think we have a limited supply or is Monokuma gonna keep restocking the pantry?” Sayaka asked as if she was concerned Junko's eating would make everyone else starve. But as she finished her questions a familiar face appeared.

“Oh? Did someone say my name?” Monokuma’s voice showed up, causing Sayaka and Makoto to jump while Mukuro got into a defensive position. “I must say Maizono, that was quite a smart thing to ask, I didn’t realize you were capable of asking smart questions!” It said mocking Sayaka, making the idol scoff at the insult. The bear's jokes were everything but clever.

“You just want everyone to hate you, huh?” Sayaka spat, clapping back more aggressively than expected. “Can you answer the question and leave? No one wants you here!” The way she spoke shocked the others, but at the same time, it was impressive. Suddenly the three realized that the idol was much more than just a bubbly singer. 

Monokuma jumped up to the ceiling of the room, his hands pressed to his face in shock, “Oh my gosh, have you always been this mean?” Monokuma whimpered. The bear wrapped his arms around his head and cowered in fear as he landed. Sayaka took a threatening step towards it as Monokuma continued, “You know your fans would hate you if they saw how rude you are in person. I’d be more careful of what I said if I were you, what if this was televised?” The bear said in its annoying cartoonish voice, sounding way too happy for how threatening it was being. 

The students and Monokuma had a stare off for a few moments. None of the kids wanted to humor him. If this was being televised the police would find them instantly. "Geez, no one told me comedy died in this generation," The bear said. "Fine, the pantry restocks every week so you don't need to worry about starving to death. Honestly, that should’ve been obvious, like do you guys think I want people to die in boring ways like that?” Monokuma’s words reminded the students that it only saw them as pawns in its game. To the bear, it didn’t matter who died as long as it was entertaining, and obviously murder. 

Junko decided that at this point enough was enough when it came to Monokuma’s bullshit, but when the girl got up to scold the headmaster, the bear had vanished. “I- uh…what? Where did it go?” She asked as she looked around the room to try and find Monokuma. Her classmates just shrugged at her, also unaware of how it had escaped. “I seriously hate how that THING can do that. I was about to go off on it and then it just vanishes.” Junko scoffed, sounding more disgusted with each word that left her mouth. “Ugh, thank god there’s comfort food here.” She concluded as she picked up an apple pastry and proceeded to swallow it. 

“Maybe you should be glad the thing disappeared then.” Mukuro proposed, which put a confused look on her sister’s face. “Junko, I’m serious. You saw what that thing did in the gymnasium, you have to be careful what you say and do to Monokuma. If you offend it, who knows what it’ll do to you.” The soldier said in a much more serious tone than before. “You too Maizono. You took a risk by yelling at it. Try not to do that anymore.” As Mukuro finished her speech she went back to her investigation of the pantry, opening up the refrigerator as if nothing happened.

“Y’know sis I’m a little sick and tired of you trying to control me,” Junko said bluntly, which made Mukuro freeze in place. “Like you do understand the situation we’re in right now, yeah? So excuse me for acting a little bit intense when I’m being forced into a kill or be killed situation. I thought you’d be a little more empathetic.” The fashionista was aggressive, but she sounded more betrayed than anything else as she scolded her sister. Makoto looked over to Mukuro but noticed no visible emotion in her face or body as she listened to her sister.

“You’re right… sorry. I’ll try to be more understanding.” Mukuro said simply, returning back to her investigation as soon as she finished responding.

“Okay… thanks.” Her sister responded. Sayaka and Makoto looked at each other, both of them were painfully aware of the tension in the room. Makoto glanced at the door and then back to Sayaka, silently asking her if the two of them should leave. But before he could get a response one of the girls spoke up.

“So… sorry about that guys.” Junko apologized to Sayaka and Makoto. “The two of us get a bit hostile sometimes, but we’ll be able to work it out.” She explained, and Makoto noticed Mukuro nod subtly, which made him feel more confident that Junko was telling the truth. “Anyways, have you guys found anything like, noteworthy? I’ve honestly just been eating this entire time.” 

Sayaka coughed, “It’s nothing that will help us get out of here,” Sayaka started, “But I think we should be aware of the knives.” She said as she pointed to a knife block on the counter. Makoto looked at the block and saw the many, many, knives inside of it. “Technically it’s just a normal knife block, but they could be dangerous if someone decides to use them…” The idol left her sentence at that, but everyone knew what she meant.

In an instant, Mukuro dashed to Sayaka’s side and started to examine the knife block. Sayaka jumped at the girl’s sudden movement, but then began to observe what the girl was doing as Mukuro rapidly pulled out the knives and examined them. This went on for almost an entire minute before the soldier pushed a final knife back into the block. “There are sixteen knives in this block. I’ll check back here several times a day and make sure that none of them disappear.” She announced, which surprised Makoto. He hadn’t thought of that, but it was surely a good idea to make sure that no one was plotting anything.

“Thank you Mukuro, that’s a good plan,” Sayaka said, to which Mukuro nodded in response. “Um, besides that I don’t think there’s anything notable in here. Did anyone else spot anything?” The girl asked, and just as she finished her sentence Makoto opened a cabinet to find a photo of some sort hiding inside. The boy picked it up and flipped it to see something that confused him, to say the least. 

“Hey, guys? I think I found something.” Makoto announced. The girls looked over at him in surprise.

“Really? Give it here!” Junko said. Makoto handed the photo to the girl without hesitation, his mind was unable to comprehend it but maybe hers could. “Eh? Me and Mukuro? I don’t remember uh, what is this?!” She yelled, throwing the photo onto the counter. 

Mukuro picked up the picture and studied it for a moment. “Huh?” She said. Makoto looked at the soldier. Her mouth moved as if she wanted to say something, but he could tell that her mind was thinking too fast to form words. Sayaka and Makoto walked over to Mukuro and looked over her shoulder.

Sayaka gasped when she saw the photo. The picture was taken inside of the gymnasium that the group came from. But in the picture, it showed Junko and Mukuro playing a game of basketball, with the looks on their faces making it seem as if they had no worries in the world. But that didn’t make sense. The sixteen students had supposedly never set foot inside the school until this morning. So if that's the case, then the picture Makoto found can’t be real. At that point the school had been nothing but pain and misery for the kids, why do the sisters look so happy in the photo? 

Makoto’s head hurt. Nothing made sense in this school. He didn’t want to stick around long enough to figure it out. He wanted out. As soon as possible.

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Chapter 11: The First Death

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so I never have anything to do so I'm gonna start trying to learn Korean bc I'm bored all the time. Oh, btw thanks for reading lol yalls comments really make me want to write more.


	10. The Losers, Chapter 1: Part 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Byakuya, Yasuhiro, Kyoko, Toko, and one more explore the school

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read End Notes
> 
> Tw: Mention of Violence against small children

Yasuhiro was used to being picked last. All throughout primary school, the clairvoyant was an outcast. Kids his age were always too judgemental, too close-minded, too snooty, and just all-around rude. But Yasuhiro did his best to not let his image affect his mindset. Actually, the boy thought he was great at going with the flow and making the best of his current situation. Unfortunately, he seemed to be having a hard time doing that at the current moment. Usually, when he gets left out of groups Yasuhiro gets stuck with the other losers and they end up having a great time. However, the clairvoyant was currently stuck with a famous author who wrote bestsellers before she finished middle school, a master detective who had tracked down several notorious serial killers, and the heir to the Togami conglomerate, all of whom seemed to embody the meaning of the word “winner”. 

The four students were currently investigating the entire area that surrounded the dorm rooms, including the laundry room, storage room, incinerator room, and bathrooms. At first, the four of them had entered the laundry room as a group. But within minutes of the investigation starting, Kyoko had vanished and had continued her investigations alone. Soon after, Byakuya had decided that Yasuhiro and Toko would only hinder his efforts and decided to leave as well. Pretty soon, the clairvoyant was by himself, as Toko had left at some point, choosing to explore by herself.

Kyoko stepped into the female bathroom and immediately opened each stall door. Unsurprisingly, nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary. But in Kyoko’s mind, if the mastermind were to hide something that they didn’t want anyone to find, it would be here. The girl entered the big stall at the end and checked her gloves before pressing on each wall tile to see if any of them activated some sort of contraption. The detective’s hands worked like clockwork, carefully applying pressure onto each tile without skipping a beat. 

In the back of Kyoko’s mind, she knew that there would be nothing to find there. Whoever had trapped her in here wouldn’t be dumb enough to leave something incriminating on the first floor. They would put it behind one of the gates that would probably be opened up later. Still, even if the investigation did nothing to help everyone escape, it would raise morale. That was more important than anything else right now.

Byakuya walked into the biggest room he saw and his attention was immediately drawn to something huge. Resting in the back of the rectangular trash room there was a giant machine, something that the progeny was familiar with, as his family conglomerate was affluent in creating heavy machinery. This particular model the boy was actually very familiar with since many of the top yakuza syndicates did business with the Togami conglomerate in order to purchase them in bulk. What the groups did with said incinerators, or rather, what they disposed of, Byakuya didn’t want to think about. That was the tough part about running a conglomerate. If you wanted to be successful, you couldn’t pick and choose who you did business with, money was money. 

The boy looked at the incinerator again. If someone wasn’t careful, they might end up being thrown in there. Byakuya walked up to the incinerator and concluded that even an infant could figure out how to turn it on. Right in front of the device, there was a large red button sitting on a podium, one that the progeny happily pressed. Immediately after Byakuya pressed the button the entire warmed up and within seconds beads of sweat began to drip down the boy’s face. The feeling was unpleasant, to say the least. Not only that, but the temperature continued to rise with each passing second to a degree that could easily be dangerous if someone was locked into the room. Byakuya stood there for a few more seconds before pressing the button. Just as he had suspected, the mastermind had tampered with the machine in order for it to become a lethal weapon. But the question in the boy’s mind was how the thing could be used for murder.

If someone was trapped inside the incinerator room they could easily turn the machine off so they could stay alive, right?  
Wrong.

Out of the corner of his eye, Byakuya spotted a handle that looked similar to one used to pull down a projector screen. A handle that barely poked out of the low ceiling, and one that you wouldn’t even be able to grab if you weren’t as tall as Byakuya. However, Byakuya could easily reach the handle, and when he pulled it down he found something that answered every question in his head. 

A gate, with a lock and key.

Byakuya already knew what the mastermind wanted from him, but when he saw the note attached to the small key that was latched onto one of the openings in the gate he opened it. It read, 

“Congratulations! You have discovered the secret of the incinerator room. By now you have discovered that the incinerator can raise the temperature of this room to deadly heats and with this key you can lock your fellow students in while also preventing them from turning the incinerator off! The key provided locks the gate in place, which makes it an immovable object until the owner of the key unlocks it. Just remember to lock the front door as well, as it’s the only door in the entire school that locks from the outside. Sincerely, Monokuma.”

Byakuya was almost amused by how hard the bear was trying to make a murder happen. The progeny knew that sooner or later one of his classmates would crack under the pressure and Byakuya viewed all of the options that Monokuma provided as unnecessary factors that he had to keep track of. He didn’t know what these “class trials” would entail, but he did know that at this rate it would be difficult to figure out how each victim was killed in the first place.

He chuckled as he pocketed the key.

The task would be difficult, but it would also be fun.

Toko walked into a random room, looking for a place to hide from everyone else in this damn school. Since the moment she first arrived here the writer has been looking for an opportunity to get away from her classmates. Toko never really interacted with people her age, or people in general actually. But the girl liked it that way. She didn’t actually hate people. Actually, she really enjoyed them. Whenever they were far away that is. 

Toko sat down in a corner of the room and tucked her head into her skirt. She always found herself most comfortable in this position, even though Toko knew it was bad for her spine and neck. Something about being unable to see the world around her made the writer forget about her troubles and dropped Toko in her happy place. Her imagination. It was no surprise to anyone that the Ultimate Writing Prodigy had a vast imagination, and it would be even less of a surprise to anyone who has read her books that her mind was always filled with thoughts of boys. Cute boys. Toko had always had a sort of fascination for boys that she found cute. That meant a slender figure, no muscles, and a small face. She had a very specific type, thankfully she usually found no trouble finding boys who fit her criteria, not even in this school. 

In Toko’s perfect world she would be the only woman in a world full of slim men. She wouldn’t be the queen or anything, just another person. A person that watched. Maybe she could even become friends with some of them. Overcome her fear of socialization and actually form a bond with someone her own age. But no. No she couldn’t. And she knew exactly why her fantasy would stay a fantasy forever.

Her.

There was never a specific moment in time when she appeared. Maybe she showed up after that boy pretended to ask her out, but then revealed that it was just for a dare after the girl watched an entire movie by herself while she cried in her seat. In fact, Toko wasn’t even aware of her existence until she woke up one day covered in blood with a pair of scissors in her hand. Toko remembered that day like it was yesterday. One minute Toko was staring out her window across the street at her primary school crush. Then she sneezed. The next thing the writer knew, she was in Haruto’s house, staring at the boy as he lay dangling from the wall, hanging from several different pairs of scissors impaled through his limbs. 

Toko remembers how the scene was strangely void of any evidence that would incriminate her. Besides the blood on her body and clothes, of course.

She remembered how she heard the shower running in the bathroom that was attached to the boy's room. 

She remembered washing off all the blood as fast as she could with all of her clothes on. 

She remembered finding a conveniently placed pair of gloves on the counter when she got out of the shower.

As well as the open window that she could see her own house from within the darkness, including her own window, staring back directly at her.

That night when she sprinted across the street under the cover of the shadows was the night that Toko Fukawa accepted that she was a murderer. It was also the day she vowed to never engage in any romantic behavior with a boy. Ever again.

Of course, we all know that Toko’s efforts did little to stop her other half.

After the first time, however, the writer was spared from waking up at the crime scenes. It was as if her other half had learned from her mistakes and had learned to keep control of the body. Instead, Toko would see a cute boy, pass out, and wake back up in her own room. If she didn’t know better the writer would just think she had a bad memory. Sadly, Toko did know what went on when she passed out, and she would wake up each time feeling as if she had been shot in the chest.

Or rather, stabbed in the heart.

“Gh! Stop it!” Toko yelled out, suddenly all too aware of the hole she was digging herself into. Why did she have to think about all of these things now? Out of all the times and places to remember these things. Why now? Why her? Why? WHY?! 

She sneezed.

Toko’s body collapsed in on itself. And then slowly raised back into a standing position, as if her limbs were attached to strings and a giant was lifting her up. 

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh! Is it finally my turn to play?” Genocider Shou asked. Toko’s second half had a voice that was completely opposite of the main body, sounding bright and animated, while at the same time unnerving. “Ugh, Toko you have got to stop putting us in that stupid fetal position, no boy is gonna want to do us if we have a hunchback!” She scolded the writer in her head. The homicidal maniac looked around, realizing where she was. 

“Mmmmmm, oh wow. A storage room. Can’t say I’m surprised.” Shou said. “What are we even doing in here?” She asked Toko. “Investigating? Ah, I see. No, I’m not giving you the body back, stop asking this is the first time I’ve used it all day.” The two personalities were currently having an argument in their head, but Shou lost interest fast, as she saw the reflection of something metallic hit the wall in front of her. 

“Okay okay, I’m not listening to you anymore. I just saw something shiny.” Shou said, muting Toko’s voice in her head as she followed the beam of light. The source of the reflection was all the way back in the corner of the storage closet. Here Toko would have given up and gone back to meet the others, but not Shou. The serial killer plowed her way forward, stepping over boxes and crates as she squeezed her way past shelves that obstructed her path. 

Shou ducked under one final shelf and as she lifted her body up she gasped. Surprised but at the same time flattered at what the mastermind had provided her.

“My babies.”

Then she heard a knock.

“Hello? It’s Kyoko. I’m coming in.” 

Genocider Shou panicked. She snatched her babies and stuffed them into her waistband.

And then she sneezed.

“Who is that?” The detective called out.

“It’s T-T-Toko!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HIIIIIIIIII I MISSED YALL. This chapter took me a while to pump out but I'm actually really proud of it? I'm so sorry that some characters in these past 4 chapters haven't gotten as much development as others but I am gonna do my best to even out the focus in the future!
> 
> What did yall think of this chapter? I really feel like I changed up my style but I actually really like it. LMK if yall feel the same way. 
> 
> Alsooooooo yeah, someones dying in the next chapter. I don't want to drag things on and I think almost 20k words is good enough exposition to lead up to a turning point. Hope no one gets too mad at who I choose to kill off >.<
> 
> WARNING: SELF PLUG BELOW
> 
> Okay yall I finally did it. I posted my first video to youtube. It's something I've been wanting to do for a while now and I'm officially starting my channel with a lets play of Steins;Gate!!!! If y'all want to check it out here's the link! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1kPbkqtY3sNvJ-TYLaKfSQ 
> 
> We got like 4 subs rn and less than 20 views on my page so I'm really not trying to do anything huge. I just want 2 have fun & shit and honestly I really did. It was like stage fright when I was recording. dksdlkadjaskdas anyways thank yall for reading ily


	11. The First Body(s) Are Discovered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> LMAOOO WHY IS THIS CHAPTER 5k WORDS LONG
> 
> Okay guys I'm gonna warn you all now. Your favorite characters are not going to survive this chapter. Read at your own risk because it's not gonna be pretty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read End Notes

A lot had happened within the past hour in the life of Chihiro Fujisaki. But compared to the rest of the day the programmer thought that the investigation was quite mild. Just an emotional outburst coupled with the exposure of everyone’s darkest secrets to go on top of a school killing game. The boy laughed in his head, somehow crying uncontrollably had been his favorite moment of the day. That made sense. 

Well, if he was looking at the bright side, at least Chihiro had become friends with his classmates, and his friends wouldn’t hurt each other, right? 

Right.

The four boys were currently walking back to the gymnasium, ready to meet with their classmates at the time they all agreed to. However, Mondo was currently walking behind the rest of the group as if he was a gargoyle that looked over his friends in front of him. He was holding two boxes, both of which held eight different folders that contained their classmates’ life secrets. Fuck, he needed to stop thinking about the folders. Mondo looked at his three classmates in front of him, and a wide smile appeared on his face. He liked these kids, even if they were kinda weird. For the first time in a while, the biker gang leader felt like he could make some real friends. That probably sounded weird, but it was true. Obviously, Mondo had his gang, but as the leader, all of his members were more like children to the boy rather than friends. In this school, everyone was an ultimate. No one here had any title that made them better or worse than the others, and that was comforting to Mondo. The last thing he wanted was to feel inferior to these kids. Just equal. 

“Oowada!” The biker gang leader heard, and he whipped his head around to see Chihiro waving at him. The programmer was a few paces behind him and he was currently leaning out of the gymnasium doors with his head peeking out the side. When did he pass his group?

“Oh shit,” Mondo muttered quietly, not realizing how badly he was zoning out. “Yeah, I’m coming.” He yelled back at Chihiro, trying his best to act casual. The biker really didn’t want the boy to worry. Chihiro already had enough to worry about and Mondo didn't want to make his life any more stressful. 

The two students met back up at the entrance to the gymnasium, and Chihiro flashed the biker a concerned smile. Mondo grimaced. 

Damn. He noticed. 

When the duo entered the gymnasium they realized that they were the last ones to arrive, and when they walked in they became painfully aware of everyone’s eyes on them. The two boys stood there awkwardly for a second before one of their classmates spoke up. 

“What took you two so long?” Celeste questioned her classmates. “We’ve been here since twelve like you proposed Fujisaki. Why couldn’t you follow up on the idea you proposed?” She asked, her disappointment was more than apparent in her voice. Chihiro was taken aback, not expecting the first interactions with one of his other classmates to be hostile. 

“Can you chill out Celeste? They weren’t even five minutes late.” Junko shot at the gambler, which made Aoi, Sakura, and Yamada grimace. The three students who investigated the infirmary with Celeste were still on edge from the gambler’s previous outburst.

“Tch. Every minute we waste gives more time to commit a murder. But if you are all fine with that then go ahead.” Celeste shot back. A bit more emotion in her behind her words this time.

“Can we not bite each other’s heads off?” Sayaka asked with emphasis, her newfound confidence shining through each time she spoke. Makoto smiled at the idol’s words. Sayaka was really coming forward as the leader of the group and he felt somewhat proud of his friend. Celeste scoffed after Sayaka’s sentence and Junko turned away as if she didn’t hear the idol. “Now the rest of us obviously didn’t find anything besides murder weapons Monokuma provided, but it looks like Mondo did.” She said, drawing everyone's attention to the boxes on Mondo’s shoulders. 

Mondo stood there dumbfounded for a second with a blush resting on his cheeks. “Uh, well actually Chihiro found these. I’m just carrying them.” He said as he looked towards the floor. “Do you guys want me to like, explain what these are or should I just show em to ya?” He asked looking towards his group for help. Mondo was usually good at talking in front of a crowd, but something felt different when it wasn’t his gang he was addressing. 

“I think it would be best to let them see for themselves, Owada,” Kiyotaka suggested, to which Mondo replied with a grunt of agreement. 

They had a plan. The group of boys that discovered the folders handed each one to the respective student that the information was based on. Except for Kiyotaka. He hadn’t let go of his file since the second he read it. Mondo, Chihiro, and Leon each took five folders and handed them to their owners, which should’ve been easy since the names of each student were printed in bold on the front. But as Leon handed out the first to one of his classmates, the girl opened it, scanned it for no more than a few seconds, and handed it back. 

“This one isn’t mine,” Kyoko said as she pushed the folder back in Leon’s hand. The red-head did a double-take as he realized his mistake and the boy’s neutral face turned into one of panic.

“Oh shit!” The ultimate ??? responded as he shoved the folder back into the stack in his hands. “Um, you didn’t see anything did you?” he asked the detective sheepishly, scared that Kyoko might have learned something she wasn’t supposed to. 

“Nothing I didn’t already know.” She responded. 

The two left it at that.

After a couple of minutes, every student had their own files in hand, and Kiyotaka could see how each person’s expressions changed. Most of his classmates were visibly shocked by the contents of their files, with the exception of Byakuya and Kyoko. However, something that surprised the moral compass was that none of his classmates had reactions as intense as his, which sparked a variety of thoughts into Kiyotaka’s mind. Were the details that the mastermind collected on everyone else not as intense as his? Why were they targeting him specifically? Maybe he was just being overdramatic, maybe everyone had secrets as bad as his, but Kiyotaka was just overreacting. As usual.

He would’ve kept freaking out if his classmates didn’t do it for him.

“What the heck is this?!” Aoi yelled out. The swimmer looked around at her classmates suspiciously and proceeded to hug her folder to her chest as if she was trying to protect what was inside. “That’s impossible. T-there’s no way anyone could know this.” The swimmer’s eyes turned a dark grey as if someone had pulled a scrim over them. 

“If this got out to the public my reputation would be ruined,” Hifumi whispered, barely loud enough for Makoto to hear him. The otaku thought about what would happen if his fans got wind of this information. His viewer base would diminish faster than heat in a blizzard. 

“Di ou re em?” Makoto heard someone say. But it was too quiet for him to hear the words. He looked over his shoulder and tried to figure out who was whispering, but as Makoto did, someone pushed him out of their way aggressively, throwing the boy to the ground in the process.

“I said, DID YOU READ THEM?” Yasuhiro, the ultimate clairvoyant burst out. He confronted Mondo, Chihiro, Kiyotaka, and Leon with his question, and walked towards the quartet at such a slow speed that the group of boys had no choice but to back up into a corner. Suddenly Yasuhiro had the entire gymnasium’s attention and everyone else in the room watched the clairvoyant as he yelled at his classmates. 

Makoto focused on Yasuhiro’s face, and he noticed something interesting. The boy’s expression was intense, but his expression looked more fearful than angry as if he wasn’t thinking about what he was saying or doing.

“Hey hey, dude calm down!” Leon said with a panicked voice. He tried to put his hands on Yasuhiro’s shoulders in order to deescalate the situation, but as the red-head raised his hands up, the clairvoyant pushed them back down, making Leon stumble a bit as Kiyotaka helped his classmate stabilize his balance. 

“DON’T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN.” The brunette yelled, taking another step forward as the other boys took a step back. Leon’s hands turned clammy as he stepped back. Out of all of his classmates, he expected Yasuhiro to be one of the last to react like this. 

“Hagakure, I can assure you that none of us read your files.” Kiyotaka tried to explain, taking a step forward. All the moral compass wanted was for his classmates to trust his group as he did. Deep in his heart, Kiyotaka knew that his new friends wouldn’t have invaded anyone’s private information like some fiend. 

“I don’t believe you,” Yasuhiro replied emotionlessly. “I don’t believe ANYTHING you say. You’re all working together to pretend like you’re innocent, but in reality, you read every single one of our files, d-didn’t you?” The clairvoyant said as he interrogated the boys. A vein popped in his forehead as he spoke, and his mouth twisted into a snarl. 

“Stop it. Please.” Someone said with a booming voice, and everyone, including Yasuhiro, whipped their heads around to see Sakura standing over the rest of them.

“Fighting will get us nowhere. We can’t forget that our only enemy here is Monokuma. If we turn on each other like this we are doing exactly what it wants and I fear what that means for the survival of us all.” The fighter followed up, causing the silence of the rest of her classmates instantly. Yasuhiro stood still for a moment, letting Sakura’s words rest on his conscience, and after a few moments, he let his shoulders and arms fall. 

The tension in the room ceased, and everyone was able to relax. At least for a few moments. 

Break -

The screen cuts to the back end of a chair in front of a series of ominous-looking monitors, sixteen monitors to be exact. Each one of them focused on a different student as the group of classmates exited the gymnasium. Suddenly the camera focused on the chair and out of nowhere, it spun around to reveal a familiar black and white bear laying down on the seat as if it was a muse for a famous painter.

“Upupupupu. I was thinking about giving the students an extra motive, but it seems the first one was more than enough!” The bear said it’s toothy white smile widening as it laughed. 

“I think it’s better this way as well. Get the weak ones out of the game early so the rest of the show is more interesting. At least, that’s what master said.” It added. 

“Upupupupu. Upupupupu. Upupu-” The bear laughed in a rhythm that stayed consistent as the sound faded away. The camera zoomed out and darkened as the laughing got quieter, soon leaving the screen as nothing but darkness and silence.

And then the scene swapped again.

Return -

The students decided to have lunch together after thirty minutes. Everyone agreed that they needed a small break from each other so that they could all ease up and discuss their plans for the future. When the kids exited the gymnasium everyone decided to go off on their own. Everyone except for Makoto and Sayaka.  
They sat on the benches in between the entrance hall and the school shop, which could be used to buy trivial things like trinkets and snacks. The two of them sat there for a while, trying to forget about everything going on around them as they talked. 

The two talked about everything there was to talk about besides the killing game, or at least, everything they could fit into thirty minutes. They talked about their middle school days, their families, their friends, Sayaka’s groupmates, Makoto’s sister, it was obvious that they were making an effort to keep the conversation topics lighthearted. 

After a certain point, Sayaka decided that laying down would be more comfortable than sitting up, and she rested her legs and head on the cushioned bench, perpendicular to Makoto sitting down next to her. A few moments passed, and as Makoto glanced at the idol he decided to lay down as well. The two of their bodies formed a straight line as the two of them stared at the ceiling together. Sayaka pushed herself closer to Makoto with her legs, and as she did the two of them felt their heads lightly press together.

Makoto blushed, and Sayaka just smiled.

“Do you really think we’ll all be okay?” Sayaka asked, addressing the elephant in the room for the first time since their conversation started. The idol’s voice held no weight with her question. It was as if she was just letting her thoughts fall out of her mouth. 

“Honestly, I don’t know,” Makoto responded. Sayaka could hear the boy thinking about each word as he said them. “I want us to make it out alive. But I can’t guarantee anything.” He said. Sayaka hummed in response, unsure what she thought of Makoto’s answer.

“Yeah, I guess I agree.” The blue-haired girl responded. “I think the scariest part of this game for most people is that they have no one who they can trust.” Sayaka pointed out, and this time it was Makoto who was humming. “But that’s why I’m glad you’re here.” Makoto tilted his head upwards to look at Sayaka after that last comment. She trusted him? 

“This might sound a little weird, but how come you’re so sure you can trust me?” The lucky student asked Sayaka. “I know we sorta know each other. But we never talked until today.” When he finished his sentence Makoto kicked himself internally. Everyone’s been talking about how they need to trust each other. But just like Monokuma wants, he’s questioning the people around him.

Sayaka’s mind flashed to that moment in middle school. When she saw him nursing a crane back to help. When she witnessed that act of kindness Sayaka knew that Makoto had a kind heart, even if at the time, she didn’t know his name. But the first thing the idol thought of was a different event. 

“Remember that time you stood up for that kid in the halls?” She asked Makoto. His head tilted to the side, she’d have to be more specific than that. “There was a group of like, twelve kids picking on one boy on the second floor. Everyone around was just recording, but you actually rushed in to help.” Sayaka finished, and as she did Makoto realized exactly what she was talking about. 

It was the first year of middle school and as Makoto was walking to his science class he heard it.

“Beat him up, dude!” 

“Look at how he covers his face!”

“I think he’s scared!” 

Without thinking Makoto ran into the middle of the crowd, trying to get a grip of the situation at hand, and that’s when he saw it. About a hundred kids had formed a circle and inside there were twelve older kids crowding around one smaller boy, one who was just about the same size as Makoto. The younger kid kept trying to get away from the bullies, but every time he got away from the bullies the kids who created the circle pushed him back in, laughing as they recorded the event with their phones.

Without a second thought, Makoto rushed into the fray, pushing past a sea of bodies as he broke into the fight. When he entered the circle Makoto heard a collective gasp from the crowd around him, and he took that moment of pause to grab the boy being tormented. Makoto grabbed the boy by the collar of his shirt and forced him into the crowd, and he could hear the younger kid’s footsteps as he fled the scene.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as well for Makoto himself. 

In place of the other boy, the crowd pushed Makoto into the circle. Hard. He landed on his back with an impact that knocked the air out of his lungs and slid right in front of the group of bullies. That’s when he saw her. 

Sayaka. 

Standing at the back of the group but definitely, a part of the bullies was that distinguishable blue hair that no one else in the school had. Sayaka had her head facing directly away from Makoto as if she was trying to hide her face from him. But then she turned around. For less than a second, the idol looked at Makoto, and for the entirety of that moment, the two kids made direct eye contact. Makoto could see the guilt in her face, but it didn’t match the disappointment that the boy felt. 

It was as if Makoto had just discovered a celebrity was involved in a major scandal, except a thousand times more personal. In his eyes, Sayaka had always been the kindest kid at school. Despite being popular the girl was nice to everyone she met, and she never shied away from helping someone in need, no matter how popular they were. How could she have joined a group of bullies? A flood of realization came back to Makoto as his mind brought him back to the current day with Sayaka in Hope’s Peak.

“That was you with the bullies. I can’t believe I forgot about that.” Makoto said. He got out of his laying down position and sat upright with his eyes wide open. It was like Makoto only remembered the parts of Sayaka that his brain wanted him to.

“Yeah,” Sayaka replied as she mimicked the boy's position on the bench. 

“Why did you make me remember that?” Makoto asked the girl with a tone of disbelief in his voice. 

“I just wanted to make sure that you know I’m not a perfect person before you choose to trust me,” Sayaka said with a smile. The smile didn’t seem forced or malicious. Instead, it looked vulnerable, a type of smile that Makoto wasn’t used to. “On that day I realized that you didn’t only have a kind soul, but a brave one too.” The girl added, making Makoto blush intensely. 

“I guess…” Makoto said. The boy felt extremely awkward being praised like this and by reflex, he grabbed his hair at the back of his head and started running his fingers through it. Like a tick.  
“I had a black eye for a week after those guys got their hands on me.” He said, remembering the embarrassment he felt having to come to school with an eye patch covering his face.

“Sorry about that,” Sayaka said. Makoto nodded in reply, signaling that he was okay with how everything turned out. “Ever since that day I’ve tried to be more virtuous like you.” All of a sudden Sayaka grabbed Makoto’s hand and jumped off of the bench, forcing Makoto to stand face to face with the idol.

Sayaka said, “Naegi, I think the two of us should form an official partnership. The two of us together, we can put an end to this killing game by uniting all sixteen of us together against Monokuma.” Makoto stood there dumbfounded. Makoto could feel Sayaka’s energy radiating off of her body as if she was a boulder tumbling down a hill that never ended. The girl put her hand out, offering it to Makoto for a handshake, “What do you say?”

Partially out of the feeling that he had no other option, but mostly out of a genuine belief that Sayaka had changed for the better, Makoto grabbed her hand and gave it a firm shake. “I’m in.”

And then.

“Hey, guys! Everyone come to the dining hall! We’re gonna have lunch now!” 

It was the voice of Aoi Asahina. The girl yelled with a voice so loud there was no way you couldn’t hear her, no matter where you were in the school. 

“Oh! Naegi and Maizono! C’mon guys we’re gonna eat food!!” The swimmer said as her eye caught the newly formed duo. The tan girl motioned for her classmates to follow her, and then disappeared within a second, clearly ready to chow down.

The next thing the two heard was a series of doors opening around them, as several of the students had continued exploring the school during their free time. From behind them, the two looked around to see Kyoko exiting the infirmary, Hifumi exiting the school shop, and Byakuya exiting the main hall. 

“Are you two just going to stand there?” Kyoko asked the duo as she walked by. 

“Hmph,” Byakuya said as he passed

“Have you two checked the school shop?” Hifumi asked the pair as he walked up to them. “There are so many things you can purchase there. I could spend all day in there!” The otaku announced, he looked as if he was going to start floating in the air, a look of joy clearly on his face. “Here, I bought too many of these, you must try them!” Hifumi gave both of his classmates a bag of chips with a logo that depicted a plus-sized anime girl with pink hair and cupid’s bow. 

The partners thanked Hifumi, and the three students walked together to the dining hall. Hifumi held the door open for Makoto and Maizono, and when the three of them entered they realized they were the last ones in. 

They also realized the energy of the room was much more vibrant. 

The first thing Makoto noticed was the volume. Everyone was so much louder than usual but in a good way. Yasuhiro was currently doing a fortune-telling session with Mukuro and Junko. Celeste and Chihiro were playing a game of cards. Mondo and Leon were arm-wrestling. Aoi was once again on Sakura’s back and was driving the muscular girl around the table with her braids, and Toko and Byakuya were simply observing the rest of their classmates in the room, although they were seated at opposite ends of the room. It was as if the kids were having a party, and everyone was invited.

Wait.

Where were Kiyotaka and Kyoko?

Makoto looked to the window that connected to the kitchen/pantry room and saw a spiky-haired boy and a pink-haired girl currently cooking, as was apparent by the mass amount of steam and sound coming from the room. 

Oh.

“Heeeeeyyyy!” Makoto heard a familiar voice call out, and all of a sudden Sakura came running at the three students with Aoi, who was currently yelling at Makoto and Co., on her back. “What’s up, guys? Hey Yamada, me and Ogami got way better at this, right?” The swimmer asked, striking a pose while flexing her arms in the air.

“You certainly have!” Yamada replied, which prompted a high five between the two athletes. “Also, would you two ladies mind giving us the rundown of what’s happening right now?” The Otaku asked, getting sounds of agreement from Sayaka and Makoto.

“We’re currently entertaining ourselves while we wait for Kirigiri and Ishimaru to finish cooking,” Sakura said. Aoi however, wasn’t satisfied with this explanation and decided to add more details. 

“At first we were just gonna eat stuff from the pantry since there are pastries and stuff, but then Ishimaru got real mad because he said we were just gonna be eating carbs. So he offered to cook for all of us, he’s even making food for Toko, who’s vegan! Then Kirigiri offered to help because apparently, she’s a really good cook. Who knew we had so many chefs in our class?” The swimmer didn’t wait for an answer to her question as she proceeded to steer Sakura away once she finished her monologue of an explanation. 

All of a sudden the kitchen doors slammed open and in an instant everyone who was not seated at the main dining table found their seat, including Makoto and Sayaka. Everyone was excited to see what Kiyotaka and Kyoko had prepared for them. The smell had been to put it simply, divine. 

Out of the darkness of the kitchen came Kiyotaka, who was wearing a chef's hat and apron. The boy was pushing two carts filled with plates of food that had steam radiating off the top. The spiky-haired boy had a splash of flour on his face, which got into his eyebrows on the left side of his face. 

The boy passed out each plate in a carefully thought out and calculated manner while also passing out napkins and utensils to each student, the entire process taking less than a minute. Makoto took a look at the dish in front of him, it was a plate of duck paired with sides of yellow rice and colorful salad. The boy took a glance at Kiyotaka, surprised, and impressed at how skilled the boy was at cooking. Then Makoto looked at Toko. Toko’s meal was a bowl of black pepper tofu with an assortment of vegetables to go along with it. 

“T-thank you Ishimaru,” Toko said, a small but visible smile showing on her face. “I ap-preciate it.” She raised her hand and did a small bow in her seat at Kiyotaka, making the boy blush.

“P-please it’s nothing,” Kiyotaka said as he sat down at the head of the table. As Kiyotaka sat down, everyone looked at each other awkwardly. No one was sure who was supposed to initiate the meal. 

Suddenly Mukuro broke the silence, “Itadakimasu,” the soldier said, and everyone else followed suit. That was the first thing Mukuro had said in a while Makoto realized. After saying their thank yous the students wasted no time digging into their meal. All conversation stopped as soon as the eating began, no one wanted to waste any time talking. Junko and Aoi especially savored their meals. The best way to destress for them was with a good meal.

The entire room felt as if they were in heaven while they ate. For many of the students there, it was the first time that they truly felt like there was nothing to worry about. Like the killing game didn’t exist, and they were eating together as friends rather than prisoners. It was as if the meal that the students were eating was the glue that sealed the bonds between them. 

But that was just a moment. 

And now the students had to come back to real life.

Out of nowhere, Toko fell out of her seat, making a loud BANG sound as the girl’s chair fell to the ground with her. The girl fell to the floor with her limbs sprawled in different directions and as she did everyone else jumped out of their seats. 

“Fukawa!” Chihiro yelled out as he rushed to the girl's side, but someone pushed her out of the way as the programmer approached Toko. That girl was Mukuro, who was currently checking the girl’s pulse. 

“She’s alive, but her pulse is weak and only getting worse.” The soldier said bluntly. Her demeanor was extremely calm and collected, but Makoto could tell that she was panicking as it was obvious she had no idea what to do to solve this problem. 

“What do we do!?” Mondo asked, looking around at everyone and anyone to see if someone could do something about this.

“Ikusaba, shouldn’t you know what to do in a situation like this?” Byakuya asked, thinking that the Ultimate Soldier would be able to wake up someone who had just passed out.

“I know how to save someone if they’ve been shot or if they’re choking. I’m useless here.” Mukuro replied, her mouth quivering as she held Toko in her arms. 

“We should take her to the infirmary,” Celeste suggested, and since no one else had any better ideas, it was decided. Everyone would follow Mukuro as she carried Toko to the infirmary. 

The soldier loaded the Ultimate Writing Prodigy into her arms and everyone followed the girl as she marched towards the infirmary.

Except for Makoto.

Makoto stood in the back of the room with his back to the wall and his hands on his face. The lucky student’s entire world was crumbling around him. He had just solidified a plan with Sayaka to save everyone, but within the hour that had all fallen through the cracks. Was he just a failure? Were his efforts not enough to save his classmates? He looked up at Toko, half expecting to see her awake as if these past few minutes were just a dream.

He didn’t expect her to actually be awake.

When the boy looked up to see Toko’s eyes open, but at the cost of her body convulsing rapidly and violently. Makoto stared at the girl with wide eyes as he witnessed the seizure. The girl's tongue had grown to an impossibly long length and her eyes turned blood red as she shook in Mukuro’s arms. Screams filled the room as the girl underwent her transformation, but Makoto focused in on what he saw. 

Toko, under impossible odds, seemed as if she was controlling her hands.  
Her hands traveled up from beneath her, slithering upwards like a snake climbing the air until they met her shoulders. 

Then they traveled down towards her skirt, pushing downwards as if they were searching for something specific. 

When they reached her skirt they ventured inside and Makoto could see them grab something inside her waistband. Unfortunately for Makoto, he couldn’t see what it was that Toko held in her hands as she pulled it out of her skirt.

It truly was unfortunate, because if he had noticed, maybe he could’ve moved out of the way. 

Makoto saw the glimmer of something metallic in Toko’s hand, and before he could react, the girl threw it. 

Directly at Makoto. 

The scissors pierced through the air in the room like a bullet, traveling at a speed that seemed impossibly fast. 

Before he knew it Makoto felt a pressure in his throat, and for some reason, he couldn’t breathe. 

He looked down.

And then he saw it.

The scissors that Toko threw had embedded themselves in his throat, and he saw an unnatural amount of blood gushing out of the wound.

That was strange.

Why had that happened?

Why him?

He didn’t want to die.

Makoto’s knees gave out and the boy would’ve fallen to the ground if the scissors weren’t preventing his head from falling to the ground. 

The boy's vision went blurry, but before he went to sleep for the last time he saw two things.

First, he saw Sayaka running to the boy with tears in her eyes.

Second, he saw Mukuro drop Toko’s lifeless body to the floor.

“She’s gone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM SORRY YALL.
> 
> I LITERALLY LOVE MAKOTO AND TOKO SO MUCH THEY ARE BOTH S TIER CHARACTERS IN MY BOOK. THIS HURT SO MUCH TO WRITE MY HEART WAS LITERALLY POUNDING TOWARDS THE END. 
> 
> This was a tragedy, they both deserve so much better I love them, Shou included, so much. 
> 
> BUT
> 
> YALL GET READY FOR 
> 
> MAKOTO x TOKO x SHOU THEATRE 
> 
> ITS GONNA BE A THING BECAUSE IM NOT LETTING THESE KIDS GO SO SOON.
> 
> Im so sorry I did a double kill for the first chapter. It's an idea I've had in my head for years and I really wanted to do it with this fic :(


	12. Chapter 1 Intermission.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens to students in Dangan Ronpa after they die?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read end notes

The lights went dark and the curtains closed.

_Was that it? Is the story over?_

The main character just **died.** So how is the show supposed to continue now? What’s the point in even watching this shit anymore? Who’s gonna watch now that Makoto’s gone?

It was plain to see that no one enjoyed this little “plot twist.” Everyone around me started getting up from their seats and I heard a plethora of unsatisfied grunts and rude comments. No one cared anymore now that the hero was out of the picture.

But not me.

I stayed put in my seat, even though my legs were slowly freezing against the cold metal chair I was sitting in. God, why didn’t I wear warmer clothes? I didn’t budge, even though the crew was giving me no indication that the show was going to go on. 

A minute passed and the last audience member disappeared out the doorway, leaving me alone with the stage. The silence in the room was deafening.

Another minute went by, and I let out a cough that had been asking to be released for a while now. No one else was here anyway, not like I was disturbing anyone. The only thing I could hear was the ringing inside of my ears. 

And then I heard the trumpets. 

Out of nowhere, I heard a wild trumpet playing a tune similar to the one you’d hear if your character died in Mario Bros. Then I saw a spotlight that rivaled the brightness of the sun revealed the bright red curtain in the darkness. 

I nearly jumped out of my seat. My heart rate spiked and my breathing hitched as the curtains opened. I knew the show wasn’t over yet, there’s no way they would leave it on such a sour note. 

But what I saw was not what I expected.

**Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to the Best Part of the Show!**

The curtains opened up, and behind there were three familiar faces. 

_Wait, three?_

“W-what the? I- w-h-who are you?” A girl in a purple dress said to another. On the stage, there were three kids, one of them I recognized as the late protagonist of this show. 

And then there was Toko, two of them.

“Who am I? Who the hell are you? You got a lot of nerve stealing my look like that, four-eyes!” The doppelganger said, pointing a familiar pair of scissors at the girl. The two girls stared at each other for a second, and then in unison they said,

“Wait a minute.” 

“Toko?”

“Shou?”

My jaw dropped in sync with the girls, apparently dying had its perks too. 

“Am I dead?” Makoto asked no one in particular. The boy was clearly confused and as I looked closer I saw a dark blue blemish covering his entire neck. They were in the exact same spot where the scissors once were. My mind flashed back to the scene that had just played out. Toko fainting, the seizure, the scissors. 

“Yep we’re all dead, shortcake,” Shou said. “And personally I’m pretty pissed about it! I’m the main character of this shitshow and the puny writer decides to kill me off first!” The murderous maniac spat out, waving her scissors at anyone and anything. Although Makoto didn’t notice as he continued to wander the room.

The set was interesting, to say the least. Around the students, there were green vines and colorful flowers draped on the walls, and in the center of the wall behind the kids, there was a window with a faint glow surrounding it. Also in center stage, there was a table with three chairs surrounding it. On the table, there was a tea set, with a teacup in front of each chair. 

“B-besides that. Where a-are we?” The real Toko asked. The writer was currently wandering around the area and looking at everything she saw, like a lost kitten wandering its owner’s abandoned house. As she adjusted her glasses for the fifth time she sat down at one of the chairs around the tea table, shifting uncomfortably in her seat as she tried to get used to her new environment. 

“Maybe this is the afterlife,” Makoto suggested and while he expected the girl(s) to freak out, he saw the two of them almost relax at his words. “Did I say something?” He asked as the two other people in the room turned their heads away from the boy. 

“No I’m just surprised that I ended up in the same place as you if I died,” Shou responded, and as she turned around to face Makoto the boy got his first good look at the serial killer. Shou’s tongue rolled out of her mouth and the lucky student stumbled backward, falling onto the floor behind him as he realized who was in the room with him.

“W-w-w-who are you?” the boy asked as he defended his face with his arms. “Why are you dressed like Fukawa? Fukawa?” Makoto looked back and forth from Shou to Toko several times. He was extremely confused as to why he was the only one freaking out since someone was trying to steal Toko’s identity right in front of him. “I- Fukawa why? You- I- Why aren’t you?” Makoto was stuttering worse than Toko.

“Are you done?” Shou asked bluntly. She was already tired of the boy. Nothing was more unattractive than a cute boy that couldn’t keep his cool. Makoto fell silent at the serial killer’s words. He was petrified. “Good. Well, we’ve never officially met so allow me to introduce myself!” She dashed closer to Makoto and their noses almost touched, until the boy pushed himself as far away as possible.

“The name’s Shou! Genocider Shou. But don’t bother introducing yourself to me. From now on you shall be known as Shortcake!” The girl laughed as if she had just told the most hilarious joke ever. She bent over with her hands on her stomach and tears visibly shot from her eyes as she let out a predatory wail of laughter.

“B-but why are you dressed like Fukawa?” Makoto asked. He didn’t like the nickname, but he felt like criticizing the choices of a serial killer wasn’t his biggest priority.

“We’re the same person,” Toko said, her voice never sounding more serious or stable until now.

“What?” Makoto said. 

“Believe it, shortcake!” Shou spat out. “I know you’ll want to spend the next thirty minutes asking stupid questions, but I’m telling you right now that me and Toko are one and the same! Two minds, one body. Capiche?” Shou took an intense look at Makoto, before chuckling. She twirled her scissors in her hand. “Y’know you’ve got a pretty face, but after talking to you for a couple of seconds I can say you’ve got an ugly personality. It’s a shame, I almost regret killing you.” Shou spoke in the most carefree way possible, so it took Makoto a moment before he realized what she just said.

“You, you killed me?” Makoto sat stunned for a moment. Processing the information he had just received. “H-how? I saw you die! There’s no way that you could’ve done… that to me.” With each word he said Makoto’s confidence dropped a little bit more. He had just realized that he didn’t even know what happened. The last thing he remembered was a pressure in his throat, and the sight of Sayaka running towards him.

“N-no. You saw m-me die.” Toko said. “I don’t know what happened but when I p-passed out, Sh-shou could feel our b-body dying and t-t-took over. I don’t know what she d-did but the next thing I k-know I wake up here.” The writer was scared. But she wasn’t scared of anything around her, she was scared of what she- or rather Shou had done.

“What do you mean?” The boy asked, gently pressing for more information.

“It means I took you down with me, small-brain!”The serial killer interrupted. “I don’t know who killed us but I’m not gonna be the first death that didn’t even do anything!” She was visibly frustrated and sounded like a kid who was being forced to leave the playground earlier than she wanted to. “If I knew who murdered us I would’ve gone for them instead, but I didn’t. So I just threw my trusty ol’ scissors at the first person I saw, and that just happened to be you, shortcake.” To Makoto, it sounded as if Shou saw murder as a game. She had just admitted to murdering him and she didn’t even show an ounce of remorse. 

“So you killed me because you wanted to make a spectacle before you died?” Makoto paused. “You’re an awful person.” Makoto didn’t know what to feel. He was sad that he died, sure. Sayaka at the very least would be heartbroken and he felt sorry that he wouldn't be able to support her. But at the same time, he was _fucking angry_ with Shou. She could’ve easily chosen to not murder him, but she did. She killed Makoto because she wanted to, and for no other reason.

“Why did you have to kill someone before you died?” Makoto asked simply. He knew it was pointless, but he had to at least try to reason with Shou. 

“Why do fish swim in the ocean? Why does a murderer murder? Why does a fanfiction reader stay up until three A.M.? It’s all the same thing. No one knows why it happens, it just does!” Shou responded. In her mind, everything that she said was perfectly clear. 

“Those aren’t at all the same!” Makoto yelled. “You know what? I just died, so I’m gonna go off somewhere on my own. You two murderers can hang out together out here.” I saw Makoto storm off the stage and his footsteps were audible for several seconds after he disappeared, leaving the two girls to stare at each other awkwardly. 

Shou scoffed and eventually decided she had enough of Toko, leaving the stage in the opposite direction of Makoto off to go who knows where.

Toko sighed. She was still sitting at the table. 

I watched the girl sit alone on the stage for what must have been twenty minutes. She didn’t do anything besides pour herself a cup of tea. 

However after those twenty minutes had passed, the lights had dimmed, leaving the room in complete darkness.

The only thing I could see was the faint glow of the window in the background.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY YALL I KNOW YOU WANTED TO KNOW MORE DETAILS ABT THE MURDER BUT YOU'LL HAVE TO WAIT. but have this for now :)
> 
> Btw like who do you guys think the murderer is? Obviously, we know who killed Makoto, but what about Toko/Shou? Predictions in the comments if u want!!!! A cookie/shoutout for whoever gets closest first in the final part of chapter 1!!!


End file.
